A Horse and His Cabbit
by borg rabbit
Summary: AU Tenchi and Ranma xover Ryo Ohki had more than one egg. final chapt added.
1. Chapter 1

This is something of a Tenchi-Ranma cross and I own neither. Strictly for my own enjoyment this is.

**A Wild Horse and a Cabbit**

**Prologue and Amazon Retreat**

Two ships emerged into normal space around Jupiter's orbit. One ship was made of wood. The other ship appeared to be made of crystal spires, with what seemed to be a large dome on the upper section. Each ship turned ravening beams of destruction upon the other, but no damage was done due to their own spherical force shields. The ships played tag, neither getting the upper hand until they passed through the asteroid belt.

The crystalline ship lost a spine when it was struck by a relatively small asteroid. The damaged ship went spinning away, lightnings shooting out of the damaged spire and emitting a pained 'Miyaaa' over a broad band of the electromagnetic spectrum. The other ship had been following too closely and hit the hyperfast debris cloud. Its shields flared but held, though at a lower apparent energy level following the strikes. The wooden ship was slowed by the mass of the asteroid and the crystalline ship had recovered enough to head insystem, running from its less damaged foe.

In the skies of the third planet, a few hours later, twin streaks passed over the Sahara desert. Bright beams of light shot out of both streaks and what looked like chunks broke off of each to follow their own trajectories. The two ships had shed enough speed to begin maneuvering. The crystal ship was severely damaged, most of its spires had been truncated, but the other ship hadn't arrived unscathed either. As the two opponents passed over a deep valley within a mountain range, the crystalline ship ejected a small spherical object over some ponds. The two ships screamed away from the valley toward the east and disappeared over the horizon.

The object fell into a pool and embedded itself in the mud at the bottom. The only witnesses were a portly man, his wife and two children who had emerged from their hut at the first sonic boom. The man looked at the pool and wondered if the Spring of Drowned Young Girl would be affected by the dragon's egg that had fallen in.

* * *

**Seven Hundred Years Later (give or take)**

After almost three quarters of a millennia, seals were beginning to fail. Water was entering delicate organoelectronic circuits and was slowly degrading the stasis field containing the pod's tiny passenger. Within two days the field was only strong enough to affect the creature's metabolism. Its mind began to assess the situation and came to the only conclusion it could. It would soon drown without outside help. The bottom centimeter of its egg was already submerged and it realized that something had changed with the contact, but remained confused as to just what had happened.

Two days later the stasis field sputtered out, the bottom third of its eggshell was covered with water and it felt itself going through the early stages of a slow suffocation. At that point it sensed a pressure wave strike its outer prison and felt another sentient presence. The creature reached out with its mind and found…

Compatibility?

Hope

Partner

Love?

Help!

Hope!

Please!

Help!

Please!

Help!

Me!

Please help me!

The outer prison opened up. Its egg was grasped and carried up. Up into warmth. Fresh atmosphere caressed the shell. Oxygen passed across membranes that had been sealed away for hundreds of years. It wrapped its presence around its savior, pouring gratitude and love into its savior's mind. Its joy multiplied when it felt the feelings returned.

Thought. Coherent thought. 'Thank you for saving me.'

"Huh? Felt like the egg tried ta talk to me."

* * *

Ranma hit the water flat on his back, but continued to the bottom of the shallow, fenced in pool of water, impacting the mud in the bottom. His mind fearfully contemplating the tingling change in his body, 'Pops is a panda. The pools are magic. What'll it do ta me?'

As Ranma pushed down into the mud to go to the surface to see his 'awful revelation' his hand contacted something hard and he felt his mind being grasped by something. An empathic bond was instantly formed and he felt the desperation of whatever it was. It was suffocating, dying. Knowledge of how to free whatever it was entered his mind and he tapped portions of the surface in a sequence that seemed to have been in his mind all along. The object split and he grabbed the almost spherical shape within. He placed his feet on the bottom and stood up, holding his prize above his head.

Ranma looked up, 'Its an egg.' Ranma looked down, 'I'm human, but what's that on my chest?' Holding the egg with one hand, the other gave the objects on his chest a good grope. Shaking, the other hand reached down the now loose pants and could not find the part that made him a man, a finger verified that he wasn't a man at all. A quick pinch of one of 'her' breasts confirmed that he was a she. Ranma, woodenly, marched to the bank of the spring and gently placed the egg into a bunch of dry grass and stared at the portly Chinese man, finally tuning into what he was saying in pidgin Japanese. "…Spring of Drown Young Girl, now you young girl. Tried warn honored guests. Hot water reverse curse until find cold water. Look like you found dragon egg in spring. Dragon egg fall in spring seven hundred year ago during battle of two great dragon."

The neo girl picked the egg back up and set it into her lap and wondered at the feelings that seemed to emanate from it. The happiness that she felt was not her own but seemed to be wrapped around her. 'Thank you for saving me.' sounded in her head.

"Huh? Felt like the egg tried ta talk to me." Ranma couldn't really hear words, but felt the gratitude, joy and unconditional caring. She felt tears of happiness welling up inside, though they never left her eyes.

The creature had begun to take in sensory input from its partner and sent some of its data into Ranma's unconscious mind for her later use. Particularly the data/knowledge its mother had of her own partner.

Ranma took all this in at a level of unawareness and reacted with nervousness, until he saw his father turned Panda coming over to look at the 'dragon egg'. Ranma stared at Genma. Ranma stared at her chest. Ranma reached into her pants one more time. Ranma looked at her approaching father and took a deeeep breath. She carefully placed the egg into the clump of grass. "AAAAUGGHH! You bastard. I'll kill you! She leapt at her father, glowing like a bonfire, casting shadows, even in the daylight."

Genma swelled with panda pride at his pusillanimous child's demonstration of a potent battle aura. At that point, some facts began to filter into the upper portion of his brain. 'Glowing eyes, confirmed. BRIGHT red aura, yep. Grass smoldering where feet touch ground. Approaching VERY fast, uh-huh. Swearing in a threatening manner.' His hind brain jolted into awareness, 'OH #()-, Ranma's pissed…better RUN!' Genma turned in time to receive a powerful kick in the rump that sent him sailing over a rocky outcrop. His neo daughter jumped over the same outcrop in hot pursuit.

The guide turned around and looked at the pool and thought, 'Well, that's the first customer that fell in the spring in at least seven hundred years. I'll need to take honored guests to Nyanchicsu village.' There were standing orders regarding this particular pool, any victims had to be shown to the matriarch. 'It looks like the spirits 'chose' on this one's watch.' He then began to approach the dragon's egg.

Ranma was chasing her panda father when a feeling like cold icewater dousing her brought her up short. The egg was exposed and being approached. She didn't know how she knew, but there was something more important to her than chasing her father now. The girl spun around as her father kept dashing madly away. Ranma took off, leaping from the top of the bluff overlooking the springs and touched down running.

The guide was about to touch the egg in curiosity when the red headed customer shouted, "Don't touch it mister." His hand jerked back as the girl took the egg from its impromptu nest in the bunchgrass. She spoke to the egg and said "Don't worry, I'll take care of you."

A male Ranma and his now human father sat in the guide's hut eating the meal that his daughter, Plum, provided. The guide looked with a tinge of disgust at the two as he considered his actions. He needed to get them out before his food supply was gone. "Honored customers can go to village of Chinese Amazon to learn more about young customer curse. They can help if ask nicely."

For some reason that he couldn't fathom, Ranma shuddered as a chill ran down his spine. 'I think this guy ain't tellin me everthin that I need ta know.'

* * *

The two martial artists followed the guide the next day, travelling to an equally inaccessible valley via a pass and high altitude rainforest path. Two days of travel brought them to a valley that had a surprisingly large, flat flood plain. Straddling the stream in the center of the valley was a walled village that was surrounded by rice fields arranged in a manner to impede approach from any direction but the front. Oaks, ash and poplar trees showed their crowns above the walls of the village and forest ringed the edges of the fields to the valley's edge and a fair way up the mountainsides. Men were working the fields with diligence and some had babies in carriers on their backs. Ranma and Genma were in the forms given by the pools, thanks to a rain shower earlier that morning. As they walked, Ranma felt uncomfortable at how the men bowed low to her and kept their eyes averted.

Ranma had given Genma a haunch of goatmeat that had been dried to almost the hardness of concrete and the panda was worrying at the seasoned 'fossil' goat, falling back in his effort. The girl type Ranma used the distance to pump the guide for more information about the Amazon's they were about to visit without her old man listening in. "Young customer be best off staying young girl when see Amazon elders. Here women are warrior and men do cooking raise children. Try not to get in battle with Amazon, it very bad thing to do. You beat warrior, get kiss of death and be followed to ends of earth till killed."

Ranma considered what was told her and thought about what her old man had tried to instill into her about women being weak. Since she was a young woman now for the better part of three days, she realized that while she didn't have the sheer power that she had in her male form, she more than made up for it in speed. Heck, she thought that her weight training regimen could compensate, in time, to make the difference negligible. Her first reaction to the change had been horror, followed by self pity. One thing had brought her out of her depression and that was the feelings that had come from the egg that she carried in a pouch slung under her arm. She maintained a fiercely protective attitude toward the small life contained within the egg.

Ranma knew that she was having long conversations with the egg, but all her conscious mind could discern were colors, emotions and images that seemed like memories or movies without sound or great clarity. Her ability to commune with the egg was best when she was female and in skin to eggshell contact, but still felt as protective when a male. The communication at the unconscious level was much more complex and affecting than she could realize. She was being prepared for the birth of a life form not native to her world. Ranma was also being assessed regarding changes wrought by the egg's presence in the spring for several centuries.

As the travelers approached the village, it appeared that a contest was going on in an open field outside the gate. Two women were squared off against each other on a huge log suspended between several poles. Ranma noted that one woman was very beautiful. She had lavender hair, a bountiful bosom, and wore a battle dress that displayed her legs thoroughly. The other woman looked like a sumo wrestler, but without an ounce of flab. Her face was the sort to sink ships while her opponents would launch a thousand.

The fight appeared to have been going on for some time. The lighter opponent would dodge and jump around the other's slower attacks. She would strike with her bonbori, but her opponent's mass made her almost immovable. Finally, the larger woman overextended and the smaller woman dropped her weapons, grabbed the meaty arm and assisted the follow through with both feet to the gut. The large woman went sailing into the dirt while the smaller kept herself from falling by grabbing an irregularity in the log and swinging herself back to a standing position with considerable grace.

Cheering erupted from the crowd as the girl raised her bonbori above her head. Then she noticed the panda eating her prize. In a rage she threw a bonbori at the panda, which just batted it away and grabbed a drumstick and devoured it while looking at her. The guide interpreted her shouting to Ranma, "Girl say stupid panda stealing her prize for winning tournament."

"Can you tell her I'm sorry that my worthless father ate her feast and ask what I can do to make it right?" The guide translated Ranma's request.

The girl shouted some words and the crowd of women began laughing in a nasty manner. "She say you can fight her and die, she have panda rug and your skin for curtain in hut." Ranma looked at her father, feeling disgust at yet another situation that her father's greed had fomented.

She leapt thirty feet onto the log and faced off with the girl. "If I win you will forgive the panda?" The guide translated.

The other girl just charged. As the fight carried on, the crowd just hooted and jeered Ranma. After a bit the catcalls died down as the warriors began to respect the display of martial arts prowess that the stranger showed. Their champion was unable to hit the dodging Ranma and the smaller girl was leaping, ducking and tapping her opponent, causing extreme embarrassment to the village champion. Ranma almost had her head taken off when she looked past the girl she was fighting and saw her panda father fade from existence inside a circle of spears. The Amazons that had been guarding him shouted out with astonishment. After she recovered, Ranma thought, 'Another technique the old bastard's been holding back! I saw enough ta figure how he did it, gimme a week.'

As Ranma wore down her opponent, the guide had left, returning with a very short old woman. He was speaking rapidly in the village dialect.

Ranma was getting to the point where she was running out of energy. She had decided that it was time to end the fight and struck a series of pressure points in the wide open hole (to Ranma) in the other girl's defense. She had been moving with care to prevent the egg from dislodging or being shaken but still felt a bit of dizziness emanating from it. As her opponent sagged to the log, glaring at her, Ranma felt something strike her head from behind and everything went black.

* * *

Xian Pu and her great grandmother Elder KhoLun were sitting in a large hut, dimly lit by a number of candles. A pot of water and some bottles were setting on a table nearby. Ranma's 'dragon' egg rested on a pillow in a box between the women. They had discovered the folly of trying to touch it with bare hands when one of the warriors was shocked with a lightning bolt. Ranma herself was bound, spread-eagled on a frame to one side. She was rousing and her groans caught the attention of the other occupants of the large hut. The crone spoke in perfect Japanese, "Thank you for retrieving our dragon egg from the spring. It is with regret that I will have to end the existence that you have known in your short life, but it is for the good of our tribe that I do this and, I assure you, our good far outweighs yours."

"Whattaya mean? Why are ya holdin me like this. Let me go!"

The women stood.

The old woman carefully opened a small jar and poured water on Ranma's face, allowing it to run down her front. "This is the first step toward you becoming one of us. Now and forever you will be a woman."

As her words settled into Ranma's mind, realization sparked a loud "NOOOOOO!" Ranma began thrashing fruitlessly at her bonds.

A brief touch and a mute, paralyzed Ranma's eyes flickered about in fear as more water was poured over her head and body. The old woman smiled at her as she picked up another bottle and walked behind her and worked a shampoo into a lather. Ranma's awareness began to fade away as she heard an unpleasant cackling behind her.

* * *

Maoling woke up with the early morning dew soaking through her clothes. Rising from her straw pallet outside her adoptive grandmother's hut, she hurried about. She built up the fire in the oven in the outside kitchen, just a fireplace covered by a roof with no walls this time of year. Maoling ran to the stream where it ran into the village to fetch buckets of water for heating. "Grandmother and Xian Pu will need hot water for their morning ablutions." She next went to the stores to get the ingredients for breakfast.

Life had improved much for her since she had come to live here, at least that was what she had been told. She was the only one who had survived the flood that had taken the lives of her entire family six months ago. Grandmother said that she was pulled from the waters and brought back to life, "For which I am very grateful." She also said that being deprived of air was likely what took her memories. It was awful to have to learn how to talk all over again and her initial clumsiness had shamed her. However, she had proved to be a quick study and the beatings from Xian Pu were now few. Elder KhoLun hadn't caned her in a month. The warrior's training was finally getting her some respect from the tribe's women and the men were actually eyeing her as a potential wife. She knew that they would have to hurry before she got too good, though, if they wanted her for a wife.

Maoling set about preparing breakfast, singing a song with childlike innocence as two women watched from the hut's window.

"Grandmother, I still don't see why we had to lock Maoling as a girl. He was an excellent specimen of a male and could have given me several strong daughters." They had verified the curse while she was unconscious those months ago.

"Child, we have been over this many times and it is a moot point now. In just a few more weeks we can pick a strong male to get her with child and she will be ours, fully. What memories are still buried will be removed with the birth. Then it will be safe to expose her to the dragon's egg again."

"Why can't this one try again to touch the egg. The last time, this one held it for a few seconds before the fires burned."

"No, granddaughter, it is obvious that the egg has chosen and we must use the tools we are given, flawed though they might be."

"This one sees and accepts, but could you tell why this is so important. If this one is to someday become an elder, she feels that knowledge shared would make the path more certain."

KhoLon sighed, "Very well granddaughter. Four hundred years ago our eldest seer, Viagra, made a prophesy. She said, "When the wild horse, immortal Daughter of the Stars joins the Dragon of the Void our most deserving people shall be transformed. Men clothed in white shall serve our needs as we strive toward our goals."

"What do you think the prophesy means Grandmother?"

"Tell me your guess and I'll let you know what the consensus of the elders has been for the past four hundred years."

Xian Pu took on a contemplative pose. She knew she was being tested and the speed of her advancement into tribal leadership might hang in the balance. It would do her no good to make a rushed decision.

"Well. This one thinks that the obvious story is that the dragon that hatches from the egg will be a source of great power if it has the potential to transform the tribe. Maoling will control the dragon through her bond and we will control her. A full dragon would likely be able to defeat the Musk and might be as strong or stronger than the Phoenix. If the dragon can take human form like the musk and is female, our tribe's transformation could happen through the strong Dragon bloodline."

"Granddaughter, you have just described the best case path considered by our combined elders of several generations. However, there is one more factor. We have yet to find what effect the presence of the Dragon's egg had on the spring. Maoling's form follows the original victim of the spring and displays no apparent signs of being affected by the egg, beyond the obvious bond."

"Pardon this one's curiosity, Grandmother, do you know what the Dragon's parent looked like?"

"We only had about a dozen witnesses, including the guide of Jusenkyo, his wife who was one of our sisters and their children. There was a battle happening and two dragons were breathing fire at each other. The Dragon's Notch near the head of our valley is the result of one fiery attack. They were said to be large enough to have been able to cast a shadow from the southern wall of our valley to the northern wall at the village!"

"Aiyaa! That would have to be at least two kilometers. A dragon that large and powerful might even defy the Red Army that we must be so careful of."

"Yes, and the stories said that one was a wooden dragon and the other was made of crystal. The egg is from the crystal dragon. I hope that you now know why I had to take such drastic action with Maoling."

"This one already said that she understands, Grandmother." 'I think that I should treat Maoling better from now on. It has been getting harder to dislike her anyway and having a shield sister who may be part dragon would be a good thing.'

* * *

Six weeks later, Maoling was feeling happier than she could remember being. Xian Pu had told her that she had earned her place in the village and asked her to be Xian Pu's shield sister. She had glomped the Amazon and had to be pried off the other girl so that KhoLun could apply CPR. The ceremony had taken place before the whole tribe and marked a change in her status in the village. There were no more random beatings and the derogatory remarks were no longer said to her face. Part of the honor of being shield sister was the privilege of patrolling the outer boundary of Amazon territory for spies and other enemies.

The sparring that the two had done in clearings and woods on their patrols had brought her up to Xian Pu's level in the warrior's art. She learned so fast that it was almost as if she had learned similar techniques once before. It was like memories tickling the back of her mind, but when she tried to tease them out there was nothing but mist. One part of her mind though contained nightmares and that had walls that were obviously of her own making and she was always ejected from her meditations when she began to look at what was behind them.

Maoling's reverie was brought to an end as Xian Pu tapped her shoulder and used hand signals to indicate that there were possible enemies nearby. The two started to head for the nearest trees when two Musk warriors stepped out. One of them said, "Look. Girls. They have titties. I want the red haired one."

Xian Pu and Maoling began to back away when two more Musk walked onto the trail. The two girls moved back to back and Xian Pu felt a little thrill in addition to the small amount of fear when Maoling began to shudder and stutter "C-C-C-C…" then felt her fall away from her. She looked behind herself and saw Maoling facing off on all fours, hissing, against a tiger. She saw the other girl growl and swipe at the tiger missing by three feet, but the tiger split open ant showered the Musk behind it with blood. At that moment, the warrior that she had been facing took advantage of the opening and sapped the back of her head. Xian Pu's world went black.

Maoling was ready to take care of her share of the Musk warriors when the tiger landed in front of her. She recognized the essence of evil slowly approaching and her conscious mind 'passed out' which dropped the barrier to the hidden portion of her mind. That's when her feline side leapt into the driver seat.

Neko Ranma saw the tiger threatening her and 'Warm Lap'. A quick slash, ki claws fully extended took care of the tiger and the 'strange pride' warrior beside it. Ranma then noticed 'Warm Lap' being dragged off by three 'strange pride' warriors. 'Warm Lap' was HIS and no one would steal his friend. Sniffing the air, she realized that at least one of them smelled like PREY. With a loud "Mrowoar!" he moved so fast that the Musk warriors seemed to stand still, as he sliced all of their limbs off. He batted them around until they stopped making noises and settled down to feasting on the one that smelled like an ox. As he ate, a link flared up from dormancy and became fully functional. Pathways were made and strengthened. Ranma's soulmate didn't want to be deprived again and steps were taken to prevent separation ever again.

Xian Pu swam upstream toward consciousness. She let out a groan and propped herself up on one elbow while feeling the tender lump on the back of her head with the other. As her vision slowly cleared and focused, she took in the carnage in the clearing. The enemy had been shredded, literally. Maoling was taking bites out of the arm of one of the enemy and cleaned bones were littered about. "Is Maoling a demon? But…but she did not turn on me. She saved my life!"

Ranma heard his 'Warm Lap' making querying noises and, being full at last, purring went to the 'Warm Lap' and began to groom her. Ranma then pushed her into a seated position and climbed into her lap and fell asleep.

"She's coming this way. Please ancestors don't punish me with death this day." Xian Pu, for the first time, felt true fear and released a bit of urine at the approach of the blood soaked Maoling. The neko girl sniffed the air and sensed the fear and began purring and grooming her with her tongue. "Are you a cat demon?" "Mrow?" was Ranma's reply. Xian Pu slowly reached up and scratched the other girl behind the ears and heard the purring intensify in a sound that should have been impossible for human vocal cords to make. The neko girl let out a loud belch and curled up into Xian Pu's lap and went to sleep, purring loudly.

An hour later, Maoling awoke with a buzzing feeling in her head that was slowly fading away. She stretched and opened her eyes to see…Xian Pu looking down at her. "Sister Xian. What am I doing in your lap? And why am I covered with blood?"

Xian Pu shuddered a bit. "Do you not remember killing all of the Musk bastards that attacked us?" Maoling shook her head. "Well, you did. You began to act like a cat and killed the tiger. I was knocked out and when I woke up, you had killed them all." 'I don't think I ought to mention that she had eaten most of one of them.' "Then you came to me and curled up in my lap and fell asleep."

"I wonder how this could happen?" asked Maoling.

"I don't know, sister. I just don't know.

In the trees downwind, a gaunt panda watched the two girls get up and leave. "Just wait son, I'll get ya back to yourself and then we'll fix those bitches wagons." Then he faded into the shadows.

* * *

Maoling was washing off in the pool by the stream that had been set aside for that purpose. Xian Pu was in her grandmother's hut relating the events of the patrol. "So you tell me that Maoling killed five Musk warriors and a tiger that was likely a Jusenkyo Musk warrior as well and fed on one of them?"

"Yes, Grandmother and she was acting like a cat. She came to me and lay in my lap and purred while I petted her."

"This is bad, so very bad. I believe that I made a grave mistake when we locked Maoling's memories and form. I thought that this was the more sure way to bind her to us."

"Why do you say that, Grandmother?"

"Maoling was trained in the Nekoken. A truly horrible technique that creates unstoppable berzerker warriors and one that I never heard of in which the victim regains sanity. Maoling is an anomaly. The thing about it is, I think that all of Maoling's blocked memories are resident in the part of her mind that houses the nekoken. There is a good chance, no, a cetainty that ALL of her memories may resurface and our people's transformation may be that of death."

"What can we do Grandmother? I have come to cherish Maoling as a sister and owe her a life debt at the least. Worse, I could have been a Musk bride!"

"Child, I see some alternatives. We can kill her and destroy the egg; we may get her with child and hope that softens her attitude; or, we can lay out our cards and beseech her mercy while promising to help her in any way we can to recover her memory and unlocking her form."

"Maoling is a good and honorable person. Even if she should hate me after her memories return, I will do what is right by my shield sister."

"Xian Pu, you make me proud, and I think that our tribe's future lies with the friendship that you have built with her. The fact that she not only killed the enemy, but came to you in her feral state makes me hope. We won't tell anyone else of this, yet. If our society is to suddenly end, I want our sisters to enjoy themselves and not worry. Let us work to correct this mistake."

Xian Pu led Maoling to the Matriarch's hut. "Why are we going into Grandmother's home?"

Xian Pu said, "It is time for reckoning and I sincerely hope that you will forgive this one's transgressions. I have come to love you, sister, and hope that you will not drive me away, for I owe you my life."

"I don't understand. You saved my own life when you pulled me from the flood."

"That is just what we told you…oh please forgive this one." Xian Pu began to cry and fell on her knees with her arms around Maoling's waist.

Maoling couldn't comprehend what Xian Pu could have done that was so horrible to break her down like this. After a bit the lavender haired girl recovered and, sniffling, took her hand and led her through a trapdoor into the rooms under the house. They went down stairs until the walls went from shored timbers to solid rock. She was led into a high domed room lined with shelves containing scrolls and artifacts. One area held bricks of gold, chests filled with loose gems and others filled with various items of jewelry. In the center of the room was Kho Lon. Her staff lay before her and her head was bowed.

The old woman looked up at Maoling and said, "Ranma." And tossed a large round object to her. She found it to be an egg covered with several layers of silk. As she removed the last cloth and came into contact with the egg her mind filled with whispers. The whispering seemed joyous and made her feel one step closer to completeness. "This is mine, isn't it." A pause. "And, I feel that I belong to it, somehow."

"Yes, Ranma, I suppose that is so. That is the egg of a crystal dragon, powerful beyond our comprehension."

Quickly, "Why do you call me Ranma."

"Because that is your name, child."

"I can help you remember everything from before your rebirth as Maoling. I only ask one boon. Please let me live long enough to unlock the magic that keeps you from your birth form."

"Of course I promise not to attack you."

"No, child, wait to decide 'after' your memory is restored. My own twisted honor requires you to have your full faculties, Wild Horse-Daughter of the Stars. Let us commence, this will be the least painful way. Kneel down, I am too short to apply this with you standing."

Maoling knelt and bowed her head as her hair was lathered up.

Thoughts:

I'm Ranma!

Girls are weak!

No we're not!

I was brainwashed!

I was trained!

Those bitches stole my memories!

But they returned them and Xian Pu loves me as a sister and friend.

They used me!

So did pops.

They still used me… 'sob' they used me.

But they're sorry. Look at Xian Pu. Look at Shampoo!

Shampoo's crying, I hate it when girls cry!

Miyaaa.

Wha?

Who's that?

Miyah mirow miaow.

You're the dragon? Why do you sound like a c-c-c-c…one of them things?

Meoroww.

Coincidence? You're a cabbit.

Miyah miyaaahh!

What do you mean? You are about ta be born?

Miyah! (Here I come!)

End thoughts.

Ranma collapsed onto her rear and held the egg into her lap.

Kho Lon and Xian Pu stared at the egg as it began to glow with a bright blue light. The light spread to encompass Ranma and cracks formed spilling white into the blue. Ranma began to emit her own golden glow into the mix as the top part of the shell shattered. The creature emerged, kicked the shell to the floor and snuggled into Ranma's lap as the light show died away. All three stared at the small thing that looked like a cross between a cat and a rabbit. Kho Lon remarked, "Such a small thing, this dragon, that the fate of our tribe rests upon."

Ranma got up smoothly, resting the creature in the mini lap formed by her breast and arm. "It ain't a dragon. It's something with a lot more potential. This…is a cabbit." She looked about and spotting something, used her father's thief training to get an object from a shelf.

Ranma approached the matriarch, "Now, old ghoul, I've decided ta forgive Shampoo and 'your' punishment is certain, but how am I gonna get this 'curse' unlocked?"

"I appreciate you restricting your vengeance to myself. Your only chance to unlock the water based transformation is to obtain and use the Kaisufu kettle. As to the 'curse', there is no true cure, anywhere."

"Well, ya can just help me find this kettle then." Ranma splashed Kho Lon with the contents of a jar she had taken from the shelf.

Kho Lon grew a snout, fangs and a long scaly tail, but oddly, did not shrink any. She looked at her paws and tail and sighed, "I accept your judgement. If it is satisfactory, we can leave within the next week." The giant rat picked up her staff and started to pogo out. When she started to leave, she whirled about and cried "NOOOOO!"

The cabbit had jumped from Ranma's chest and had apparently eaten the entire pallet of gold bars, well over two tons, the chest of opened jewelry and was running through her magical artifacts like a wood chipper. When she was done, she looked up at a wide eyed Ranma and said "Miiyaa." Ranma just replied, "I guess you were right about being hungry." Kho Lon just mechanically went through the non magical jewelry and searched the shelves for any evidence of her magical artifacts. Tears ran down her muzzle in a steady stream. Xian Pu was stunned as well, seeing most of her inheritance go down the gullet of the cabbit.

The cabbit floated through the air to Ranma's arms with a self satisfied look on its face. "Miyarow. Buuurrrp!"

"Your name's LinOhki?"

"Miya miaow."

"C'mon elder and you too, sister, my partner is still hungry." Kho Lon facefaulted. The tribe would be beggared if she didn't hurry and get away.

"Ranma? How would you feel about leaving now to find the unlocking kettle?"

"Sure, the sooner the better." At that, the giant rat pogoed off to make arrangements and hurriedly explain the new situation to the other elders.

* * *

Ranma, LinOhki, Shampoo and the old rat were leaving through the remains of the village gate. The crowd seeing them off was a mix of well wishers and lynch mob. The cabbit had eaten virtually every bit of exposed metal in the village. There would be no carrot crop this year. Three warriors were still stuttering wrecks after LinOhki had briefly changed into a fourteen foot tall crystalline construct that roared at such a low frequency and volume that they lost all bladder and bowel control. That was what kept the more militant women warriors in line.

Quietly, the four headed out on the first leg of their journey to retrieve a pail and ladle from the musk. Secretly Cologne hoped that the cabbit would rape the Musk's resources at least as much as had been done to the Amazons. 'Parity and all that...and maybe a side trip to Phoenix Mountain.' thought Cologne with a small cackle.

In the trees a thin panda form followed the group, looking for a sign that would indicate that his son was recovering himself.


	2. No Herb Here

**A Wild Horse and His Cabbit**

No Herb Here

* * *

The four travelers were making their way through the mountainous rainforest between the Amazon village and the Musk lands when they approached an ancient tower when LinOhki began to look around frantically. She hopped from one hind foot to another, standing with her forelegs crossed in front of her tiny chest. When Ranma was filled with cabbit mind noise she looked down at the hyperactive cabbit. "Lin, what is it?" The small creature looked up with huge eyes that kept darting in a particular direction. Ranma's stomach growled in response to what the little cabbit was trying ro say with its miyahs. "Elder Cologne, I believe that we need ta follow Lin-chan." 

"What is it after?" Asked Cologne.

"I don't know, but its makin me hungry as hell with what is comin inta my head from her. Lin-chan, lead us but don't get too far away, okay? Uhhh? Cologne, words keep poppin inta my head from Lin-chan, like natrium, or was it neutronium, germanium, dilithium, some kinda rare earths, and other things I can't pronounce. Does any of em' mean anything to ya?"

"Not beyond that some describe elements, materials, that are possibly unusual."

"This one thinks that LinOhki shouldn't need gold, silver or gemstones." sighed Shampoo, thinking of the cabbit's gluttony in the treasure room, now they would merely be wealthy outside the village.

"Well, they are makin her hungry and me too, through our connection. Watch out for another feedin frenzy." They followed LinOhki up and down barely discernable, ancient trails until they found a cave entrance hidden by riotous growth. The cabbit merely dove through the shrubbery as the rest followed the best they could.

"Ranma, this seems to be an ancient mine, probably for gold or silver. If any of those things you named are in here, I doubt the miners were concerned."

The three followed the now floating cabbit down a perfectly square shaft that wound a bit up, down and side to side for about half a kilometer. Creating a glowing ki sphere, KhoLun became nervous at the degree of skill that had been required to create the shaft, especially when she saw seams of gold in the side that were not touched. She would remember this place, her wealth did need replenishment.

Finally they all came to a stop at a blank rock face. The face had a cross section of material that looked unlike anything they had ever seen. It was a milky pearlescent substance that had a small vertical line a few inches long in the center. The cabbit was sitting with a look of rapture, eyes glistening with specular lights. She jumped at the wall and ate a foot into the material across the entire face while not touching the more mundane rock. With her front paws she made a small pile and looked at Ranma. "Miyah mwrr."

"Ya want me ta eat some? Of that?"

"Miyaaah."

Shampoo spoke, "I wonder why she wants you to eat dirt?"

"Dunno, she says it's okay for me, but poison for ya and Cologne, though."

Ranma scooped up some of the piled mineral and put it in her mouth and swallowed the dry mixture, "Sure could use somethin ta wash it down." she choked out. Xian Pu handed her a waterskin and Ranma drank several cups worth. "Wow, tastes bettern' it looks." and proceeded to force down the rest of what the cabbit provided. The cabbit scraped another pile, which Ranma greedily choked down, along with the rest of the water.

That done, the cabbit began to ingest the entire seam faster than any mining equipment ever could. A hundred yards down a now irregular tunnel, LinOhki finally appeared to have enough. She let out a happy "miyahh" and flopped to her back, asleep. Xian Pu carefully picked the cabbit up with a nod from Ranma and cradled the small cabbit in the crook of her left arm.

She said, with reverence, "This one does not understand how anything can eat a mountain, literally, and be no larger."

KhoLun spoke, a little awe seeping into her own voice, "More than likely, it is the same space we hide our weapons, but without any limits. How about you, Ranma?"

"I think that I do the same thing with some things, now. Before she fell asleep, LinOhki said that she never would worry about running out of power, ever. I think that she got enough food for a hundred cabbits to use for a thousand years, if that means anything. Let's get going. We're done here." Ranma turned to leave with a happy spring in her step. The other two women followed, looking at each other as Ranma actually began to float a few inches above the floor of the tunnel for half the way back, apparently without realizing it.

Inside the walls of the shaft, sensors relayed data to computers that had been collecting information for millennia. LinOhki detected them detecting her, noted it and went back to sleep.

* * *

The four companions were finally inside the walls of the Musk citadel. LinOhki was seated on Ranma's shoulder and Cologne was masking the group's ki and showing a little strain. She was in human form again, thanks to a cup of warm water earlier. 

They had hidden on the roof of the palace, eavesdropping on the king and his retainers through late evening to early morning. What they heard showed that the object of their quest had been taken by the prince, for some reason and he was a few days late on returning from a bridal search.

With this knowledge, the searchers were quietly going over the wall of the citadel into the streets of the small town below. They were hidden behind a bale of cotton, waiting for some soldiers to pass on their way to their barracks. A figure in white glomped the last soldier in the line, shouting, "My darling Xian Pu! I returned from training this past year to find you gone on this fool's mission. Let's return, my love, to the village where I can worship you properly!" The Musk warrior was making tiny choking noises and finally passed out as the other warriors were turning around to see what the ruckus was.

Xian Pu was in a rage. The idiot just HAD to return to the village and just HAD to follow them and ruin everything. "Stupid &$() !()& Mu Tzu, put on your glasses and go home, idiot!"

KhoLun bopped Xian Pu over the head. "Foolish granddaughter, now you've blown our cover. Let us escape. That fool will keep them occupied, while we get out of here.

Back in the street, the robed idiot had been surrounded by musk warriors and the sounds of bloodshed and rattling chains could be heard for some time as the four females made good their escape. They hid their trail by tree hopping, moving toward Jusenkyo to find the wayward prince.

Mu Tzu settled his glasses on his nose and looked around. Not seeing Xian Pu, he violently retracted his chains and gathered up his, and his enemies, loose weapons. He then ran off hollering, "Wait for me darling Xian Pu!"

LinOhki was disappointed. She had sensed lots of yummy metal in that place.

KhoLun was disappointed. Thanks to that lovesick fool, the flying rabbit hadn't pillaged the Musk of their valuables. 'If Mr. Part Time survives, I'll feed all of his hidden weapons to LinOhki.'

* * *

Two days had passed since the travelers had left the Musk lands and KhoLun 'Rat on a Stick' was pogoing ahead of the others down the forested slope toward Jusenkyo. She intended to question the guide regarding the whereabouts of the missing prince and the chisuiton.

What they found at the hut was an injured guide. His daughter, Plum said, "Honored elder, a man came and took the registry of the spring's visitors. He beat my father when he protested. I told him that he had been foolish to do so, because I had copied down everything in a Works 1.08 database on a computer that a young man named Gates left behind on a visit. He fell into an unnamed spring, but was revived. Father acted disgusted and had the spring covered and fenced in. The name of it is now Nerdnichuan. Sorry, I wandered off in my storytelling."

"The one you seek fell into the Nyannichuan, spring of drowned girl, when he had problems trying to throw a monkey into the spring. The monkey-girl splashed the prince with the locking ladle and ran off. I helped the prince get over her initial shock and tried to explain her curse like we do with all customers. When she did not recover her form with hot water…I swear that I have never heard such language. She realized what had happened and explained it to me. I then gave her a cloak that would hide her form and she left with her two retainers who showed up later. She said that she was heading to Japan for her cure to the lock."

KhoLun asked for and received two thermoses and filled them with boiling water as well as a Tupperware pitcher filled with warm water. She promptly made the water disappear into stuff space. The ancient Splinter look-alike would be very thankful for her foresight and her great granddaughter.

While KhoLun was in the hut ministering to the injured guide, Plum was showing Xian Pu and Ranma the spring where Prince Herb met misfortune. They were searching the ground around the pool for clues when Mu Tzu leaped from the nearby bushes and glomped Xian Pu. "Oh my darling Xian Pu! I'm so happy to find you safe!"

His momentum was imparted to her and the two fell into the spring next to the Nyannichuan with a splash. Ranma and LinOhki went as near as they dared, but backed up quickly as they heard Plum declare, "Oh no! They fell into Maonichuan, the spring of drowned cat!"

A few moments later, a bedraggled black and white cat with glasses crawled out of the spring and puffed a mushroom shaped breath of exhaustion. Ranma was already in a tree, watching the demon on the spring bank. Xian Pu crawled out beside the soaking cat and hissed in rage. She attacked the boy turned cat and the two rolled flinging water and fur right into the Nyannichuan, fighting their way across the pool until they came out the other side. The fight ended when Xian Pu knocked Mu Tzu out and stood, staring at herself and her unwanted suitor.

They were both catgirls.

Two foot tall catgirls at that.

Xian Pu looked at Plum, "What happened to us? Shouldn't the spring have restored me and make Mu Tzu a girl?"

"I'm so very sorry, Xian Pu. There is no cure for the springs. If you jump from one into another spring while still wet from the first, the curses mix in unpredictable ways. At least you are not mute and have opposable thumbs in this form. Being a cat would have been very limiting."

Xian Pu looked at the tree containing Ranma and shouted, "Ranma please don't fear me, I'm not a cat. See." As she performed a pirouette to try and calm the girl.

Ranma dropped from the tree, the transformation was enough to break the association. "Not a c-cat. Not a c-cat. Its just Xian-chan." This was repeated as a mantra as she approached her shield sister and the unconscious Mu Tzu. LinOhki floated alongside Ranma, giving soft miyahs of encouragement.

Xian Pu was shivering from realization of what had happened and almost happened. And, yes, a little fear that she might induce the nekoken and not be able to calm Ranma, risking her life in these few moments.

Ranma took some calming breaths and firmed her resolve. She picked up Xian Pu as LinOhki settled on her shoulder, using empathic communication to ease Ranma's fear. "Well, Xian-chan, you make an incredibly cute c-c-c feline person." The little catgirl wrapped her tail around the other girl's arm and hugged her while making sure her claws were retracted. "Uhh. I just realized…you're both naked." 'and well endowed for your height'.

Plum picked up Mu Tzu and they headed back to the guide's hut, not sure what to expect when they got there.

KhoLun looked up in shock at the lavender and white furred Xian Pu and the black and white spotted Mu Tzu in the other girls arms. She fell off her cane, leaving a rat shaped impression in the hard-packed earth floor.

Getting up from the floor with an audible 'pop', she observed, "I take it that you fell into a combination of the Maonichuan and Nyannichuan. How did this happen? I presume that it wasn't like mine where rat and girl water were deliberately mixed." 'Damn, I had planned on using that on Ban de Soleil to put the biddy in her place, too.'

The explanation resulted in glares at the unconscious Mu Tzu from everyone present.

The guide's daughter got some of her childhood clothes out and restored Xian Pu's modesty. Ranma knew that Mu Tzu would flip at the girly clothes that she had put on her, 'She deserves it for cursing Xian-chan like that and threatening our success.'

"Plum, child, can you spare us a few bars of the waterproof soap? We can all bathe, except for mister Part Time here and leave in our normal forms to find the runaway princess." Mu Tzu started to groan and went back to slumber land as KhoLun applied a shiatsu sleep point to the tiny catgirl. "We can leave in the morning. There's an airport four days walk to the north east. Hopefully we can get to Japan and be waiting for the princess. Ranma, please do an old woman a favor and fetch mister Part Time's robe and Xian Pu's clothes from the spring. Don't worry, you won't pick up any more curses. Thank you."

End chapter 2

10-01-05

* * *

This chapter has been revised to combine the too short chapter 2 and 3. The real chapter 3 is imminent.

A/N Wow! I didn't expect the number of responses to this that I have gotten, too many for me to answer individually. Sorry about the shortness of this chapter. Likely none will be very long in the future.

Some general questions to be addressed:

Ranma is not to be locked permanently. Cologne used some locking water that she had had on a shelf for a long time. Also, they are setting out to find the kaisufu. OBTW, sfrgds, your anonymous flame lends no honor to yourself. Read fully and read well to see hints that being girled is not going to be permanent, particularly the title which itself is a play on a C.S. Lewis novel title.

There are several male and female springs in my version of the aniverse, bishujo bride and virtuous man for example, so he fell into the spring of drowned YOUNG girl, not drowned girl.

As for Ranma being less harsh toward the Amazons, several months of total immersion into that culture would affect anyone's attitude, memory restoration notwithstanding. Plus, Cologne is picking up a hint of the correct Golden Rule as opposed to "Do unto others because you can."

LinOhki has the same curse as Ranma, but is a juvenile female cabbit due to the shorter relative contact just through the eggshell. Ranma's girl side was affected considerably by the egg's stay in the pool. How much waits to be seen.

The Amazons had carrots. Don't know about the Phoenix. The Musk should have vegetarians, like the one that Neko Ranma ate. Ranma doesn't know that his cat side likes ox flavored humanoids.

Cologne does 'not' want cold water and Neko Ranma around.

Many thanks for the reviews and I'll try to keep them in mind as I spend evenings writing more chapters.


	3. The Way to Japan

Disclaim me do rey mi fa so la ti do. I don't own Ranma or Tenchi or any thing else that may be hinted at in here. So much fanfiction has been written that it is guaranteed that anything I write is probably plagiarism of some sort anyway. 

AN Mr. Part time refers to Mousse's brief periods of lucidity. According to one fanfiction I have read.

**A Wild Horse and His Cabbit**

Chapter 3: The Way to Japan

RanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanma

The travelers spent the night in the guide's hut, to get a fresh start in the morning. As dawn shone through the window, the cursed residents discovered that new leaks in the roof had worked on them all. Apparently the mixing of the springs took a while to settle for the two neo catgirls. Xian Pu and Mu Tzu stood up and found themselves staring at Ranma's chest. They had grown to about four foot to Ranma's five foot and one half inch height. Xian Pu turned to her suitor and stared for a minute while he returned the gaze. "Stupid Mu Tzu, this is all your fault."

She brought out her now oversized bonbori and was about to smash the other catgirl into the floor but stopped when she saw her drop into a fetal position with tears running down the fur on her face. Xian Pu's anger dissipated, "I suppose you have been punished enough, for now." She walked to the door to go outside to think and a large gaunt panda fell across the threshold as she opened it. "Aiyahh! What is a dying panda doing here?"

Ranma pushed her to the side and looked at the emaciated panda. "Pop…is that you?" The panda opened a crust rimmed eye and nodded. "Someone get some hot water and some food."

After being changed and dragged to the table, Genma began an eating frenzy that stunned Ranma and even made KhoLun avert her eyes at the dining ferocity of the starved martial artist. She quietly handed the guide some currency to offset the food cost.

After eating twenty pounds (dry weight) of rice, fourteen large carp (heads and all) and a hindquarter of pork, chased down with bathtub beer, Genma settled down and looked at his daughter.

In Japanese, "I'm sorry, boy, that I wasn't able ta get ya away from them Amazons. When the old mummy took ya out with a cheap shot I watched from as close as I could. They dragged ya away an some of 'em were able ta sense I was around an ya were guarded too well. I watched for ya and saw that they had turned ya inta a real girl over the next coupla weeks. I saw ya in the hot spring in th' village. Ya didn't even remember the Anything Goes. It was like they took my son, a man among men, an made ya inta nothin but a weak girl!"

Ranma began to growl at Genma, in Japanese, "Pops, don't go there, when I got my memories back I spent some time thinkin'. Know what I realized? Girls ain't weak! Ever freakin' month I bleed from 'there'. Girls AIN'T weak. Now they're helpin' me ta look for a way ta become a man again, at least part of thetime. Now can ya tell me why ya ain't the fat bastard ya usually are?"

"Well, I hadn't been able ta be human more'n a few hours since we went ta th' village. I'd go inta a hot spring and didn't get far when a raincloud'd hit me or I'd fall inta a stream and, once, a buncha monkeys pissed on me from the trees."

"Buwah ha ha ha ha! Cackle cackle cackle! Hu hu hu hu!" Everyone laughed while the bald martial artist burned red as he realized that he had given too much information in his bid for sympathy.

"Ha ha 'cough'. Pops, so why are ya so thin? Anyway."

"When I'm a panda, human food an a lotta other stuff makes me sick as hell. I could only eat bamboo and there ain't much a that around these mountains. I found some a few days away, but I lost any good from it by the time I traveled back ta watch ya. I was ready ta give up when ya seemed ta be thinkin' and rememberin' better. I followed ta make sure but passed out when I was goin ta knock on tha door…"

"Well 'Pops', I'm actually glad yer alive, an I'll help ya recover. Cause when yer well enough, I'M GONNA BEAT TH' LIVIN' CRAP OUTTA YA! Don't think I can't cause I'm a girl. Stupid panda breath, ya coulda tried ta learn Chinese and woulda known how dangerous those springs were!" Ranma had approached Genma so close that spittle was hitting him in the face from the force of her angry words.

Genma was close to losing continence and dropped to the floor crying "Sorry, sorry, sorry."

KhoLun shuddered, thinking that maybe she had gotten off easy. Ranma's aura was bluish black with tendrils caressing the bald martial artist in the baggy gi, her eyes were glowing bright red coals. 'Where did she learn to produce a fear aura? It's strong enough to kill, if she willed it.' In Mandarin, "Ranma, child, have I told you how very sorry I am about how I treated you?" This was said with a growing fear for herself, to hell with the tribe!

Ranma turned on her, some of the tendrils of the aura passing through the old body, causing her to vividly recall some of the worst nightmares of her past. As the words sank in, the aura diminished and it was just Ranma standing there. She spoke in the cultured mandarin thatKhoLun and Xian Pu had taught her. "Elder," notably missing was 'honored', "I have thought long and very hard on your actions regarding this one. You had 'murdered' someone and thought little of it until you saw the threat of tribal dissolution."

"I hold no doubt that if you could get away with it, that you would do it again if you thought that there would be no repercussions. Well, I have hope that you are capable of learning that you don't treat people like that. Xian Pu may learn more easily than yourself."

"Ranma, please understand that I do everything for the survival of the tribe, first and foremost."

"That's bull crap! What if the survival of the tribe depended on showing kindness to a stranger, an alliance based on friendship, or of not being cruel in yourarrogant superiority?"

"For what you've done, obliteration of the tribe by blood feud could have been the answer, to keep you from doing it again."

"However, I actually think that you have done me a favor without meaning to. If I had my memories, I would have suffered from constant and humiliating changes and have been in constant contact with an even worse influence than you, Pops. When I got back my memories back, it was like Maolin and Ranma were two people that blended. I'm just glad that Maolin was a warrior and not a like a traditional Japanese girl. Just so you know, though, returning the memories was like a second murder, Maolin is truly no more. Ranma is still dead. I am a new person, whether the lock is removed or not."

Xian Pu chose that moment to speak, "Ranma, I hope you will someday forgive this one for her part in this. When I realized that you were actually a male, I wanted to give you the kiss of marriage, but had no say."

"Xian, you are a friend. If you don't abuse my trust or honor I will defend you and yours with my life. As for marriage, it had better be a matter of love on both sides and not because of a tribal law. By the way, I reserve the right to be first wife for myself." The last was said with a smirk, the humor of which was belied by her eyes.

"Miyah miaow." LinOhki interjected.

"Lin-chan is right. Let's finish breakfast and get going, if we're to catch up with the Musk prince or princess. I figure that we ought to go straight to the destination and wait. You did say it was on Mount Horaisan?"

* * *

Five days later, a motley crew was running away from a PRC military base. Morning was a few hours away, but no one wished to hang around. 

LinOhki had been floating alongside Ranma and the others in a nighttime march to avoid contact with the government when she jerked to a stop in midair. The delicious stuff she sensed carried through the link. Ranma started to restrain the cabbit, when she shot off like a missile toward the military base that they were skirting. They were halfway there when the installation began to light up and sirens blared. Ranma signaled the others to stop. "Let's get out of here, nothings going to stop Lin-chan in a feeding frenzy. She'll catch up." With that, the group got the hell out of Dodge.

* * *

A few hours later, the cabbit showed up nibbling a yellow aluminum sign with a purple propeller symbol on it. KhoLun saw it and muttered, "Oh crap."

* * *

Back at the base, a group of generals were looking at piles of wood and other material. Virtually every exposed bit of metal on the entire base was gone, including twelve tactical nukes and four ICBMs in underground silos. Where row upon row of tanks had stood, there was nothing. It was also noted that the base garden was missing all of its carrots. One unfortunate soldier made a remark about Bugs Bunny and Martians and was immediately shot.

* * *

Ranma was trying to look disapprovingly at LinOhki, but burst out in a fit of giggles as the cabbit belched and miyahed a bit. Then something came over the link and the girl's eyes bugged out, as did the others when the cabbit started to grow. Lin-chan became a small rabbit catgirl with a mixture of a robe and jumpsuit. She jumped into Ranma's arms and made happy miyahing noises as the others gathered around. In the dark before dawn they watched as the pair looked into the others eyes in some kind of trance. Little blue lights circled them for several minutes until Ranma snapped to attention, looking about her. "What?" 

In Japanese, Genma spoke, "Boy, ya had little ki balls floatin' around ya…and ya were floatin' a coupla inches off th' ground."

Ranma replied in Mandarin, "Pops, you are learning Chinese. Don't be any lazier than you already are. Lin-chan and I were just having a little talk. It seems that she has eaten enough to be able to take us the rest of the way to Japan but needs about another day to align the quantum matrices, what ever that means. Her first time might be rough, so she wants to get us there quick and change back in case the strain is a bit too much."

"How is Lin-chan going to get us there? Isn't she too small?" Xian Pu enquired.

KhoLun interjected, "Child, think about how much the creature has eaten. She has enough mass, somewhere, to become a dragon as large as the ones described in the histories."

Ranma looked around the area from a tree top and assessed the land around them. "I think that there is a canyon over that way that will keep us out of view of any soldiers until tomorrow. I can imagine that the government will be hunting for what ever 'stole' their military base."

* * *

A short while later the group was in a large limestone cavern waiting on Ranma and Xian Pu to finish cooking a mid day meal. Ranma's cooking skills had improved greatly during the time she had been Maolin. There was a large bucket being heated to allow KhoLun and Xian Pu to use the waterproof soap to lock their birth forms temporarily. "Everyone can eat now." Ranma pronounced. 

After she had finished her meal Mu Tzu sat back and noticed that Ranma was missing. The others, including the cabbit, were laying about, conversing or staring at the fire or a combination. She looked at Xian Pu and KhoLun. Their conversation was probably a training session for his beloved. Ranma's father was laying back, digesting his meal. He appeared to be recovering well after a few meals. The cabbit had gone back to the small form that had accompanied them for so much of the trip and seemed to be in a Zen-like state, floating about a foot above the ground. If Ranma was right, tomorrow they would see LinOhki the dragon.

Thinking again of Ranma, Mu Tzu cast about to sense her presence, her nose twitched at discovering the pigtailed martial artist's scent. She got down on all fours and followed the trail, tail waving agitatedly in the manner of a curious cat. She tracked it back, deeper into the cavern past all light. Her sensitive whiskers gave her a sense of the size and shape of her surroundings and the scent trail left her confident in finding her way about. She was actually enjoying her improved senses, especially being able to see what the people around looked like. The few times that she had returned to her birth form, she had panicked at the loss of awareness that came with it. Her speed as a catgirl was nothing to sneeze at and she found that her hidden weapons techniques worked well, though she needed to obtain smaller, lighter weaponry for the form to fully adapt. Being female was a plus, too, though her status would not be as good as those born female in the tribe. The natural low self esteem of Amazon males caused the back of her mind to play with the idea of locking the curse, now that she was large enough to be considered a very short girl rather than a pet.

She twitched her ears as a faint noise could be heard and stepped up her pace slightly. The sound eventually resolved into that of a young woman sobbing. A dim light showed where Ranma was seated on a rock overlooking a pool of crystal clear water. Ripples gave evidence of the occasional tear hitting the water. The dim lighting was coming from the girl as a white glow emanating from her whole body.

"S-saotome. Why are you sad? If you wish I'll listen."

The sobbing continued for several more minutes and Mu Tzu was unable to take any more. Ranma felt a tiny hand rubbing her back and after a bit, became somewhat calm. "Mu Tzu, why are you being so nice to me? You hardly know me. As I remember, I think that KhoLun had likely intended to make you my husband (shudder). I would have refused, since it was obvious that Xian Pu was the object of your affection. Do you still intend to pursue her?"

"I don't know. I think that I am coming to prefer my new form to being a male. You've seen how men are treated by my tribe. If we find Prince Herb I may request to be locked in my current form as you are. I may not be as strong in this form, but I am not almost blind. As a matter of fact, I can even see perfectly under starlight at night. My other senses are even more acute. I can sense the shape of a room just by the movement of air across my whiskers. I'm much more agile and relatively faster. Plus, if I were locked, I would begin to earn the respect of the women of the tribe. Even though I would be expected to bear daughters, I would give my son's and husband the love and respect they deserve. I have long felt that men's lot in the tribe is unfair as a woman I might eventually become an elder and influence attitudes. So…losing my manhood would be a small sacrifice when taking the long view. As for Xian, maybe I could get the love of a friend or a friend as a lover if we married the same man."

"I'm just saying that, with your curse unlocked and the experience of bias from both genders, you should look at it as a blessing to understand both sides of the coin. It is a priceless perspective we have been given. Also, feel blessed that it wasn't the spring of drowned piglet or duck that you fell into. I'm sure that such would have made an animal rights advocate of me. Here's something to think about, maybe when you are unlocked and I get locked, you could defeat Xian Pu and myself in a marriage challenge. We could be your wives…"

"I don't know ! What am I supposed to be? I'd just be half and half! Maolin would want to be woman; Ranma, a man. I'm just confused! Pops and my mother, rest her soul, expect a man among men. Maolin was planning to be an Amazon warrior without peer. Now I can't be either!"

Mu Tzu said, quietly, "I know what I want for me now. But, I think that your destiny is to be more. Think. You can be both. You can be a man amongst men and a mighty Amazon. You could insinuate yourself into both cultures and bring understanding and change to the world if you have enough time."

"I challenge you to be THE best. Its an opportunity to use a great power to change points of view; to destroy stereotypes; to benefit men and women; to protect those too weak to defend themselves."

"Mu Tzu, why are you so different from the way Xian Pu described and the way you were acting?"

"More than my eyes were opened. My senses and feelings are different now and I think that I like it very much. My male form seems so blunted when I take it now. And, if that is the way all men are, I feel pity for them."

"Okay, Mu Tzu, I think that I'll try being both as you suggest. You'll see. Saotome Ranma doesn't lose…and neither does Maolin. Just on the other thing, let's just be friends and see what happens. I'm afraid of what Pops has done. I have his scrolls and journal in my pack. Xian Pu gave me Pops pack when they restored Ranma's memories. It is still strange to feel like my memories, before that, were those of someone else. I truly hope that I can begin to feel like a whole person some time."

Mu Tzu let her own feelings take over. She put her arm around the taller girl and said, "I'm sure you will. I'm sure."

* * *

The next morning, after a breakfast of their remaining provisions, the travelers gathered around Ranma and the small cabbit at the cave entrance. "Neither Lin-chan nor I can sense anyone within the valley, so hold on to your stuff, because its time." 

With that LinOhki ran at Ranma and leapt from the girls outstretched hands, straight up. She kept going up and began to morph and grow. The observers, including Ranma gasped as a mighty construct of silvery crystalline spires formed, spanning at least a kilometer from one canyon wall to the other. A large blue dome could barely be seen from their angle. Ranma started to shimmer and disappeared from their midst. Xian Pu shouted in surprise, "Aiyaa, where did Ranma…" She was cut off as they all began to shimmer and fade.

Ranma appeared in the environmental dome at the bridge and her eyes glazed over at the deep contact of an expanded link. Monitors were packed with rapidly scrolling characters while she remained immobile. This was the scene that greeted the others as they appeared on the bridge. Xian Pu spoke, "…go to? Whaa!"

KhoLun whispered, "Oh my. This is most certainly not of the earth. Ranma?"

Ranma snapped to attention. "All of Lin-chan's systems are nominal and actually better than we expected, considering that she is so young." The girl waved at some couches rising from the floor and they sat down.

Pops, even though you can't hurt anything, just stay quiet and don't touch anything. "Stealth is activated and we'll be waiting for the prince at Mount Horaisan when he arrives."

The surrounding mountains that had been visible through the blue tinted dome dropped from sight as the morning sky shifted to blackness punctuated by incredibly brilliant stars. LinOhki rotated to give her passengers a view of the world beneath.

"Lin-chan is searching a data network called the World Wide Web to locate our target, she figures that it will take an hour to translate and sift through all of the information currently there, so kick back and relax."

* * *

Washu ran into her lab, frantically slapping the acknowledge button on the blaring klaxon and bringing up her holographic computer interface. She was having a hard time believing the assumptive results on the screen. Two new cabbits? The Masu and etherium traces were definitive. Trouble was that all traces winked out a few seconds after initialization, suggestive of a young cabbit, or cabbits, not realizing the need for stealth mode until after transformation. Well, she would wait for detransformation and try to contact them. Meanwhile, a long talk with her daughter and a certain cabbit were in order. 

End Chapter 3

10-1-2005


	4. Washuu knows, Herb snagged

Disclaim me do rey mi fa so la ti do.

I don't own Ranma or Tenchi or any thing else that may be hinted at in here. So much fanfiction has been written that is guaranteed that anything I write is probably plagiarism of some sort.

A Wild Horse and His Cabbit

Chapter4

RanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanma

Washu ran into her lab, frantically slapping the acknowledge button on the blaring klaxon and bringing up her holographic computer interface. She was having a hard time believing the assumptive results on the screen. Two new cabbits? The Masu and etherium traces were definitive. Trouble was that all traces winked out a few seconds after initialization, suggestive of a young cabbit, or cabbits, not realizing the need for stealth mode until after transformation. Well, she would wait for detransformation and try to contact them. Meanwhile, a long talk with her daughter and a certain cabbit were in order.

A few hours later, Ryoko and Ryo Ohki were in Washu's lab. Ryoko was seated in the chair Washu used when she wanted her wayward daughter's undivided attention and to keep her from wandering off, should she turn her back. "Well, daughter dear, I'm sure that you wonder why I 'requested' an audience."

"What's going on, 'Mommy dearest', that keeps us from just having a talk by the lake?"

"Something came up that I need to know everything about before I have both Azusa and Tsunami breathing down my neck. What do you know about the existence of one, possibly two, wild cabbits on or near Earth?"

"Huh?" came Ryoko's brilliant answer.

"I mean, my sensors detected one very strong and one weaker cabbit trace before they went into a very effective stealth mode, and neither one was Ken Ohki's trace. I promised that I wouldn't create any more cabbits and the clone eggs don't activate unless the rest is destroyed."

Ryoko began to laugh. Hard. "Mom. Ho ho ho ha ha! I think that cabbit nature circumvented your design. You made them male and female and I found out in spades that Ryo Ohki there, had to be fertile."

Washu brought up her holographic terminal and a large ring settled around the cabbit. A few seconds later, "Goddess! Your right!"

"Yeah, just wait till she goes into heat in about fifty years. The smell is quite pungent and she won't come out of it for eighteen months! A few thousand years ago, Naga was chasing me, and Ken Ohki sensed that Ryo Ohki was in heat. The two of them dumped us off on an unpopulated world and ignored our links for six months while they bred like zikzoggs. When they showed back up in ship form they took us aboard and headed off opposite directions, to lose Naga for a while. I asked Ryo Ohki to put the egg in stasis when I found out that they were successful. Guess what! The egg being in stasis was enough to keep her from going into heat again. I guarantee that it'll happen again and Kenny boy '_will'_ show up the first time."

"Okay, that explains how it's possible, but tell me how I'm getting these indications now."

"Wellll, when Yosho chased us to earth, Ryo-chan jettisoned the egg chamber the first chance she had. She had taken a lot of damage and wanted to give her baby a chance to survive. I guess that the stasis field must have failed recently. I don't have a clue why you sensed two and I'm positive that there was only one egg." Ryoko looked at Washu and then the chair that she was seated in.

Washu said, "All right." The restraints were released.

"Ryoko, let's keep quiet for now about this for now. I hesitate to think what my sister or Azusa might say. I never intended for the cabbits to mix their genes. Where the Masu are concerned, one plus one could equal five. I need to get these two new ones into my lab for analysis. Yes. Ha ha a ha. New guinea pigs for the greatest scientific genius in the universe." Ryoko shuddered as the Washu dolls popped mini fireworks.

After Ryoko had left the lab, Washu strolled over to the 'detection' tank which was full of the latest quantity of Masu that she had surreptitiously obtained. The activity within indicated that the new cabbits were still on earth, just not where.

* * *

LinOhki was hovering in a low earth orbit, sifting through the data of the World Wide Web and several military databases. She had found Mount Horaisan in the first few gigacycles of analysis but had decided to download 'everything', the sum total of human knowledge committed to computer data with subroutines weeding out redundancies. After an hour of real-time searching, Prince Herb was located as well. 

"Miyah miaow miyah." Sounded from the air, matching a little furry cat-rabbit girl on a monitor floating in front of Ranma. The girl just fell back into a chair that had appeared and they floated, chair, monitor and Ranma to a location near the top of the dome away from the other's stares and ears. Ranma's mind snapped into sharp focus. The sometimes confusing pictographic and formulaic mental communications from her partner became perfectly understandable. She saw how Lin-chan's personality or soul was setting like the top stone of a pyramid with subroutines taking care of everything else at once. Ranma then felt her own mind shifting and creating the structure to match, on a somewhat smaller level, what came naturally to LinOhki.

With wide eyes, Ranma began to fully communicate with, and understand, her partner. 'Lin-chan…I what is this? I can't describe it.'

'This is how we were meant to be, I think. But I can only believe that this must be what love is supposed like between siblings. The only thing that prevents us from being truly complete is something that I detected to the north in a pocket dimension. We must have it! Here's what we can do…' LinOhki placed her plan in front of Ranma, who quickly nodded her head in agreement when the cabbit was done.

As the information exchange began to speed up between LinOhki and Ranma on the mental level, other changes were happening at an increasing pace. They hadn't begun to show physically, yet, but Ranma began to feel a nervousness, a feeling of the need to panic about something, though she didn't know what, just yet. The semi-sentient magic of the spring had been frustrated by the eggshell of the cabbit and was unable to do a complete merge of the forms of the drowning creature and the young girl template. LinOhki was only subject to drowning in the early stages of development and quickly overcame the need for breathing after a few meals of exotic elements. Since the spell was incomplete, it went into abeyance.

The magic determined that the link between the two was sufficient to allow it to complete the transformation. It couldn't exactly duplicate the truly exotic Masu component of the cabbit, but performed an exchange that would be just sufficient to allow both to have a young girl form when they assimilated enough Masu for their shape shifting to occur.

Other elements were being magically exchanged in subspace and Ranma's incipient panic was quickly emerging in LinOhki's mind as well. She was losing half of everything that she had assimilated to her rapidly changing 'sister'. Fortunately, she still had several times what she needed to maintain her ship form, thanks to her gluttony on the road. She made a note that the two of them should revisit the mine in the near future, but her concern was for what appeared to be happening to Ranma.

Ranma felt a queasiness that extended all the way to the tips of her red hair. You weren't supposed to feel your hair, but she was receiving sensations. Colors began to have a taste and her other senses were changing and getting more sensitive as well. Everything began to seem larger and further off, but could be seen with greater clarity than ever before. Ranma's form began to change, morphing into a cabbit with bright red fur and sail-like ears, blue eyes and a bright blue gem on her forehead. She suddenly felt a tremendous hunger that took all of her will to suppress. An image of a beautiful carrot was supplied as a pictogram from Lin-chan.

Ranma began to panic now. She leapt from the chair to various protrusions and floating components until she stood on all fours, looking at her own reflection on the inner surface of the environmental dome. 'Lin…Lin I'm…'

'Yes. You're like me now. I think that the spring's magic just caught up to both of us. From what I can gather, hot water will make me a male cabbit. You may be locked in your form for now, but we '_will_' get that artifact and unlock you. You deserve to have your birth form accessible."

LinOhki wasn't sure that she was getting through and a thought came to her. She continued to send reassurances to Ranma over their link and simultaneously opened a monitor to Xian Pu and Mu Tzu catching their attention with her image and scrolling Chinese kanji explaining what had happened. The two catgirls followed the monitor, which became a large crystal. They bounced up to where Ranma was mewing piteously on the ledge at the dome's boundary. They both came up short. It was Mu Tzu who began to cry in sympathy, while Xian Pu just reached out and took Ranma into her arms.

Ranma cried into Xian Pu's shoulder as the catgirl made shushing and cooing noises while the floppy eared, red furred cabbit cried and talked, though the only sound heard were 'miyahs'. "Xian Pu, some kami really has it in for me! First I had my manhood locked away, now I don't even have my humanity! Waahhh!"

Mu Tzu came up and began to pet Ranma as she was held by the other catgirl. She began to scratch Ranma behind the ears, finding a pleasure center. Ranma's cries quieted into cute little hiccuping noises as her ears were scratched and Xian Pu held her protectively. Xian Pu spoke quietly, "Grandmother and I did a horrible thing to you, little sister, and I hope you can truly forgive us. I swear that we will get you unlocked somehow." Ranma licked the girls hand while looking into her eyes with a soulful look that broke her heart. The catgirls sat on the ledge with the neocabbit curled up into Xian Pu's lap and Mu Tzu petting her. Soon, exhaustion overtook them all and they fell asleep, out of sight of the others. LinOhki reconfigured the spot for their comfort and went about preparing for what was ahead.

* * *

Herb, mint and lime were leaving the port city behind and following the direction that the locking ladle's compass function indicated. She was in the lead on the path that promised to be the shortest straight line path, when the sky suddenly turned dark and cloudy in the empty valley. Thunder echoed from one side of the valley to the other. An ominous feeling convinced her to look up at the cloud cover as some enormous spines began to lower themselves below the cloud deck. 

A tremendous voice spoke from the clouds, "Prinncce Herrrb. Ifff youu wishh to ffind thee Kaiiisuufuu annnd a currre, doo nnnot rrresist coming aboarrrd."

"Who are you and why should I trust you?" Shouted the prince at the clouds.

"I cannn be a ffriennnd annd trrrusting iiss eassierrr than ttthhee alterrnativve." The clouds above cleared somewhat, exposing an artifact much larger than the Musk palace and the surrounding village combined. Her ki sense didn't indicate malice, but she felt an overwhelming power.

"Mint, Lime, to me. Very well, I am willing to negotiate, but do not cross me." Herb felt herself begin to rise and saw her retainers doing likewise. Anyone watching would have seen the trio disappear in a flash of light.

* * *

A large monitor formed in front of the crew slash passengers and LinOhki's image appeared. She decided against trying for understandable audio and just scrolled chinese text for KhoLun to read, 'Elder, I have acquired the Musk princess and the Chisuiton. She and her retainers are in stasis and can be attended to at our leisure. Ranma is having problems at the moment and I am acting out our plan in her stead. We will arrive at Mount Horaisan shortly. Elder, I feel that it is better that you retrieve the Kaisufu for Ranma.' 

The old woman bowed her head and sighed. "Very well, LinOhki-sama." 'It looks like my great granddaughter has chosen more wisely than I. I think that I will make her my official heir apparent when we get back. I've become too calculating in my old age…and I can still give advice and be entertained by the children's mistakes.' She quietly chuckled to herself and made her own preparations.

Minutes later, KhoLun vanished while Genma watched from where he was eating and drinking sake. "Soon Ranma can be a man again and I can make him take us ta my old friend's home ta honor our agreement. If the boy's safely married, I should be able ta get No-chan ta forget about that damned contract. I'll surely be rich, too, if I take some of the devices here ta some of my contacts." A bottle of sake chose that moment to spill its contents into Genma's lap. He growffed and glumly began to eat the bamboo that had replaced the food at the table. 'My life sucks.' he signed to no one in particular. A certain cabbit ship snickered to itself privately.

End for now.


	5. Hello Prince Herb

Disclaim me do rey mi fa so la ti do. I don't own Ranma or Tenchi or any thing else that may be hinted at in here. So much fanfiction has been written that is guaranteed that anything I write is probably plagiarism of some sort.  
**A Wild Horse and His Cabbit**

Hello Prince Herb

RanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanma

A/N Now that they are in Japan, the Chinese Amazon names will be as they are in the manga.

"Soon Ranma can be a man again and I can make him take us ta my old friend's home ta honor our agreement. If the boy's safely married, I should be able ta get No-chan ta forget about that damned contract." A bottle of sake chose that moment to spill its contents into Genma's lap. He growffed and glumly began to eat the bamboo that had replaced the food at the table. 'My life sucks.' he signed to no one in particular. A certain cabbit ship snickered to itself privately.

* * *

Cologne appeared in a wooded hollow just below the peak of the mountain. A brief shower from the heavy clouds above struck, leaving a bedraggled rat with long flowing white hair holding onto a gnarled staff. "I have to speak to the Jusenkyo products R&D about making their soap more effective." She saw a light coming from the clouds, resting on a teakettle shaped rock formation on the peak. "I guess that's where I go."

As she pogoed up the mountainside, Cologne noticed that four crystal spires protruded from the canopy and lightnings jumped from the clouds to the spires, crawling over them, leaving a lambent glow. The sheer power radiating from the crystal constructs nearly overwhelmed her. She fought down the urge to prostrate herself in worship as her ancestors might have. Even the mighty Saffron would have to bow before a display such as this, if he knew what was good for him.

Cologne crested the cliff and made her way through a dark copse toward the peak when something smelling of rotten fruit hit her on the snout. A gravelly growl escaped her throat as more objects hit, some smelling much worse than decaying fruit. Her aura flared, lighting up the undergrowth, revealing some apes caught in the act of grabbing more ammunition from their behinds. A quick ki blast sent them scattering, chittering in fear for their lives.

A few minutes of steady pogoing found her at the bottom of the teakettle formation. "Rotten fruit and excrement, beehives triggered to fall, and four traps that I actually was able to avoid. I'm tired of putting up with this Musk designed nonsense." Cologne touched the base of the teakettle formation.

The spout split into halves that fell to either side of the matriarch, as hot water flowed over the matriarch. A sound like a bell ringing echoed across the glade. Cologne took the kettle off of her now human head. Pressing a button on the communication crystal, she said, "I've got it, now get me out of here!" The ancient woman began to rise and then vanished in a beam of light.

* * *

Cologne reappeared on the main deck. She noted that, though she was soaked, she was human and the smell had nearly been washed away and the bee stings were less irritating as her ki flushed the poisons from her body. The open water kettle vanished from her hands and a ghostly hologram of LinOhki now stood before her. A monitor scrolled text which read, "Elder Cologne, thank you for retrieving the kettle. I am about to test it out and you will have some company shortly. Please don't offend our guests too much during the short time that they will be here. I intend to return them home as soon as I can and don't intend to have them damage any of my components. If I am injured enough to have to return to my small form you will all have a long drop."

She turned to the table and was pleased to see a decent banquet spread out. The panda saw his bamboo vanish and dropped a sign with "Huh?" scribbled on it as he vanished himself. A holographic LinOhki appeared on a pedestal at the head of the looked up and saw that the cloud cover was gone and the sky was again black and full of stars.

Ranma awoke to find herself curled up between Shampoo and Mousse in a bedroom with a view of stars on one wall. She carefully and silently disentangled herself from the two girls and made her way to the entrance of the room that had formed around them while asleep. She took in the view and saw Cologne well below at the table. Ranma sent her will out to touch Lin-chan.

'Ranma, I'm so glad you've awakened. I hope you don't mind that I was putting our plan into action without you. We have the kettle that will unlock the curse, but I want to test it first on the prince.'

'That's okay Lin-chan, I trust you. Together we can do anything…and will, no matter what little brother sister! However...'

* * *

LinOhki closed the door to the bedroom to protect Shampoo and Mousse from harm and to reduce the variables. Ranma floated down to the pedestal forming beside LinOhki's holographic projection. Once Ranma was seated on her pedestal, she looked at LinOhki's projection and raised an eyebrow in an unconsciously cute manner.

'Yes, you can do this too. I'll show you how.'

The two cabbits passed information between themselves until a lightbulb appeared over Ranma's head. 'Thanks, Lin-chan, I create a projector pattern in subspace and only expose the transmitter lens like this…' an image of Ranma in her Amazon warrior garb appeared beside her cabbit self. Then the image wavered and Ranma's male self was standing there, looking as real as if he were physically there. Cologne looked at Ranma oddly. He spoke, "What? Can't I at least appear to be like I once was? It's just a video construct." The expression on both of his and her faces took on an aura of restored confidence. For the first time she miyahed happily as her projection just smiled.

Cologne replied, "That's not what has my curiosity piqued. You are now, apparently, of the same species as our friend LinOhki."

Ranma looked down in grief. His image spoke, "Yeah. The magic of the spring wasn't finished with us. We don't know all that it has done, but for now, this is my locked form."

Glancing at LinOhki, Ranma's projection said, "Its time."

* * *

Herb jerked into awareness of her changed surroundings in a white room that had what looked like comfortable furnishings and a wall that looked like a window. Getting up from the comfortable western style bed, she went to the window to look out upon an astonishing vista. The stars were far more brilliant than she had ever seen and looking down, she saw a world with swirling clouds and blue water. 'How is it that I am in the heavens? There is Japan, just like in the text book.' Going against the distortion free glassy material she looked to the side and saw crystalline spires extending out into the void. Suddenly, the scenery began to shift and the view of the earth slipped from view to show the moon, larger and in greater detail than she ever imagined.

Something told her to look around and she saw a door iris into existence from what had been a blank wall. What ever the surface was that she stood on, a multicolored stripe led from her feet to the door. Sensing no ill will, she cautiously followed the stripe into a blank hall. Behind her, the door disappeared as if it had never existed. Hoping to find whoever was responsible for this "castle in the sky", she followed the stripe to the end of the long hall.

Coming out of the hall's exit, Herb was stunned by the size of the chamber that she was in, overhead, was a tremendous, blue tinted dome. Crystalline objects 'floated' about, some emerging from the walls, some merging or passing 'through' each other. The floor was slick like polished, seamless ceramic and about a hundred feet away was a table with an old woman seated by what appeared to be a young man and two animals on pedestals. The old crone was dressed in the manner of the Joketsuzoko elders of her homeland. Of the others, only one of the creatures was giving off any ki.

As she approached, the young man spoke in Japanese, "Its time."

The old woman looked at her, speaking in Mandarin, "Welcome Prince Haabu to starship LinOhki." She pointed to the cabbit's image. "This is Ranma, also known as Maolin." Cologne gestured to both the one strange creature that seemed alive and the boy. "I am KhoLun, matriarch of the Joketsuzoko, whom you 'should' be familiar with." The last was followed by a short cackle.

"Since you know who I am and probably why I am on my quest, could you tell me where my retainers are, as well as the treasure that belongs to my tribe?"

Cologne looked to Ranma and bowed slightly before Ranma's projection spoke, in Japanese. "Prince Herb, if you would come over here to stand, we will cure the condition of your locked form, then discuss the fate of your 'treasure'."

As Herb stood where indicated she was showered with hot water that drained away into holes that weren't there seconds ago. He smiled at the return of his maleness and dried himself off with ki. "Now that I am restored in body, please restore my men to me as well as my treasures, as it is obvious that you have the Kaisufu as well."

Ranma took on a sheepish look and rubbed the back of his head, "Wellll…ya see I can't do that, 'cause Lin-chan there ate them."

The now male prince was furious. "You 'will' restore my property to me, peasant!" Herb grabbed at Ranma's shirt to pick him up and passed right through, feeling just a tingle.

"Uh. Prince. I don't think ya want ta do that sorta thing here. Do ya wonder what its like on the other side of that dome? Lin-chan and I can show ya."

"And what is it like 'out there' that I should be afraid of? I am the descendant of ki dragons and flight is something with which I am familiar!" His aura began to flare.

"Have ya noticed how 'high' we are? Ya should know that air gets thinner the higher ya go, and, out there, there is none."

Cologne took the opportunity to inject her comment into the degrading conversation, "Prince Haabu, please listen to Ranma dono, he means no actual harm and can back up anything he says."

Herb took this in and felt the almost palpable fear in her aura. His own aura deflated at this realization.

Ranma's image spoke, "Prince Herb, we'll give ya enough of both kinds of water ta take care of yer needs for a long time. Just accept that your 'treasures' are part of Lin-chan now. After all, we did restore ya." Ranma looked distracted for a moment. "Right Lin-chan. My partner thinks that ya might be more friendly if ya know how strong we are. Wanna blow up a deserted island? And your men can watch with ya."

Herb was disoriented by the direction that the conversation took, and doubly so when Mint and Lime appeared in a flash of light.

"I'll never get used to that." Commented Cologne.

"Your Highness!" chorused the idiot duo, "Where'd your titties go? Can you bring them back?"

Herb's aura flared up again, "Can you please put them back where they were? I don't think I can take any more of this."

"Sure." Flash. The dumb asses were gone.

Herb sweat dropped and then noticed that the scenery outside the dome was different. There was now a horizon and in the distance was a smoking volcanic island. Ranma said, "Prince Herb, Pops always said that the best way ta cut down on the challenges was ta make sure the wannabes knew just enough about how strong ya were ta keep em from doin anything foolish. I figure that island is as big as yer kingdom, right?"

"Yeesss. I suppose it might be."

"Well, watch Lin-chan test out her standard weaponry on that uninhabited island."

A hum began at a low pitch, rising slowly. Clouds began to gather on all sides but the one facing the island. Lightnings crawled across the surfaces of the visible spires until beams shot from the tips of each, hitting a point in front of the living ship, creating a ball of energy that grew in size and brightness, finally being released as a ravening engine of destruction toward the volcanic mountaintop. Herb started shivering as he realized what he was being shown. The island imploded, leaving a great hole in the ocean that filled and exploded with a roar that even LinOhki couldn't dampen as cold water struck the exposed magma. She staggered in the air as she took on the new neutronium ammunition that she had just created. She felt that the weapon that created an even more terrible weapon would show the arrogant prince his place.

"Impressed?" The prince's jaw had dropped. Cologne was on the floor, twitching, eyes staring ahead.

"Yes. Very. The water will be an excellent exchange, if we can have more on request. Could I propose an alliance?"

"Okay, I won't blow up yer country if ya don't attack my other friends or yer neighbors and I'll help out if anyone attacks you without cause. How's that?"

"I suppose that will have to suffice." He bowed as one equal to another and Ranma's image and Ranma herself returned the bow in kind.

"Well, let's get ya home." The scenery shifted wildly and thirty minutes later Herb was in the courtyard of his palace with two huge crystalline containers of water.

* * *

'That went well. Only had ta blow up an island ta avoid a fight.' She became depressed, 'A few months ago I'da taken on all comers, but this ain't a body ta fight with!' A few tears leaked from her eyes as she began to curl up in grief and shame as her projection winked out.

LinOhki saw what was happening and teleported the resident catgirls to a couch, where they woke up to see LinOhki's projection miyahing and pointing at Ranma. Shampoo and Mousse rushed to gather Ranma in. Cologne quietly spoke, "Ranma, shouldn't you use the unlocking kettle's water yourself?"

Ranma's projection returned to existence, "But I did use it just before I showed up here. Lin-chan wanted ta wait till after testing it on Herb, but I wanted the curse unlocked." The projection winked out.

Genma walked into the area to a somber tableau. He farted loudly, scratched his rump and signed, "Why the long faces…somebody die?"

* * *

Later.

"Okay, everyone listen up. We're going to put down at mount Horaisan at a decent campsite. Lin-chan will provide supplies and shelter. Meanwhile, she and I have to take care of some business. Don't wander off and don't worry."

The group settled into the campground on a ledge below the mountain's crown. The tents, or pavilions, were lined up under the overhang. To Ranma's frustration, she found that she had been unable to transform back to her human form. LinOhki suggested that a threshold had been crossed and the ability would be restored for both of them after got enough Masu, whatever that was. The details hadn't been imparted, though, and she just had to trust her partner.

"For some reason, I can't become human again for a while. It hurt my feelin's when when I couldn't change back. Lin-chan says I need more mass or somethin like that. Maybe that's why I'm so hungry. Anyway, this is a part of the curse finishing development and I have ta see it through."

"Boy, I hope ya hurry up an get ta where ya can change back ta yerself soon. We gotta go visit an old friend of mine in Nerima. Tendo Soun and I have an honor pact ta fulfill an your gonna have ta be there ta do it."

"What's this about honor, male. From what I've seen, your 'honor' is in tatters." Said KhoLun.

"I'll have ya know that this is a agreement from before tha boy was born and involves two schools."

"Does the child know about this 'agreement'?"

"He'll do what he's bound ta do by honor!"

"Shampoo's sister no have to listen to too too stupid male panda!"

"I have to agree with her on this. Xian Pu and I believe that Ranma must make her own decisions." added Mousse.

Ranma listened, but shrugged her tiny shoulders and communed with LinOhki, who was preparing to embark. Ranma spoke from the monitor, "Whatever, ya all stay here and we'll be back soon, hopefully within a week." Ranma's image disappeared and Ranma flew up into the cloud cover that hid LinOhki, leaving them all to contemplate the changes that had happened in such a short time.


	6. Hello Nerth

Disclaim me do rey mi fa so la ti do.  
I don't own Ranma or Tenchi or any thing else that may be hinted at in here. So much fanfiction has been written that is guaranteed that anything I write is probably plagiarism of some sort.  
Brief A/N: I have been aware that there are inconsistencies between the various Tenchi movies, TV series, and OAVs and that many fanfiction writers mix and match to put out what they want. I am no better than they are and put my own spin on the platter. Mea culpa, my bad, sorry...not. My stuph is AU and unabashedly OOC at times. While my writing is not as good as many, I just do this for fun and because I feel obligated to put something out there in return for the hours of enjoyment that other fanfiction writers have given me. I only pray that some few find it entertaining and decide to add their own creativity to this experiment. Okay, so it wasn't too brief. Frodo and Mary Sue live!...in the Poconos. 

**A Wild Horse and His Cabbit**

Hello Nerth

RanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanma

Washu was sitting at the evening meal when her alarm started to vibrate. "Sorry folks, gotta go check on a project. No rest for the weary you know." A mad dash into the lab and seconds later, she had the screen displaying a map of Japan with two red dots that were so close together that they seemed to be one moving toward...her location. "Great! I love it when I don't have to chase guinea pigs down!"

* * *

Ranma was following LinOhki as she homed in on her mother and something yummy. They had made good time in spite of the occasional zig through a carrot field. Ranma had refined her flying and phasing ability during their travel. She had even figured out some tricks that Lin-chan didn't realize they could do. An example was phasing through the soil, leaving carrot shaped voids as she passed through the garden row, LinOhki had been pulling them out. 

Finally, the two cabbits were looking at a valley containing a beautiful lake, a shrine and a large house that looked like something that Frank Lloyd Wright would have built. Lin-chan sensed the yummy goodness that would allow her and Ranma to fully evolve. It was just inside the house and through a twist in reality. The two cabbits moved carefully toward the house, using every available bit of cover. They both sensed several very powerful auras inside. Ranma felt her hackles rise at one of them, until she realized the feeling was coming from Lin-chan. An image of a man wielding a sword made of light seemed to appear in her mind. It seemed that he had been involved in causing LinOhki's mother pain. Filtering that out, Ranma couldn't sense any outright evil in the house.

They phased through walls and saw the space that they needed to penetrate. To their senses it looked like a cocoon of light behind the door to a broom closet under the stairs. They zoomed through a large living room filled with people, phasing through the walls and making a twist to enter the subspace pocket behind the closet door. The two saw the prize in a vat standing in one corner and LinOhki sped up and passed Ranma. Ranma's vision unfocused and her ki senses detected a shimmering crystal lattice surrounding the vat and had an instant feeling of foreboding. She sped up and shouted 'It's a trap!' through their link. Ranma knocked LinOhki to the side but could not avoid contact with the curtain of force. LinOhki watched helplessly as Ranma shrieked becoming tangled in the web of force. Ranma's last conscious thoughts were 'Lin-chan. Get the others! I ...'

Lin shot out of the pocket dimension and took ship form as soon as she had cleared the treetops. Even with full stealth mode she could feel a tracer trying to grasp her presence and didn't lose the sensation until about Mars orbit. LinOhki was worried about her bondmate and the lost linkage, but did not return to the valley with the shrine. She would do what her partner requested and pick up her 'crew' before trying to save her.

The great crystalline ship took a tortuous path back to Mount Horaisan, streaking in from a south polar approach, flying just high enough to avoid a ground effect rooster tail over the ocean. At last she was close enough to detect the campground with passive sensors, and every one was there except for the panda man. Lin did not want to mess around, so she proactively teleported every one and their effects aboard and shot out and away to the far side of the moon, leaving a crystalline probe in a geostationary orbit to monitor the valley.

* * *

Cologne, Shampoo and Mousse were seated on a couch in front of a monitor and a hologram of a cat-like person (Lin-chan had taken a lesson from Ranma's playbook). The old woman broke the silence hanging in the air that followed LinOhki's tale. "You now wish our aid in getting Ranma free of the trap that would have taken you?" 

LinOhki's hologram spoke, taking a cue from Ranma's example. "Cologne-san, I believe that Ranma is in trouble that she won't be able to easily get free of. Whoever made that place knows entirely too much about my kind and I don't think that they will listen to me or Ranma because we were originally created to serve as ships and pets. Ranma and I are the first, to my knowledge, to be fully independent in thought and will. Though we share a link, I know that I can leave if I wish. What I need are people who can make my case and possibly act as partners to convince them that we aren'tjust property."

"Well, child, I 'am' willing to use my three thousand years of Amazon battle tactics to aid you in your quest, should it come to that."

"Okay, are you willing to take the lesser bond and be my captain?"

The Elder was stunned. An opportunity to be in command of a starship. To be trusted after the way that she had treated Ranma indicated a level of desperation or forgiveness that she wondered if she deserved. Of course it helped to have three hundred years of experience in the art of war. She cackled to herself a bit. "I would be honored to be your captain, LinOhki-sama." She bowed low to the hologram.

"Very well. I appreciate your friendship. Soon I'll initiate the bond and we can get in some practice."

"Now, I want to bring you up to date on the history of the Juraian Empire and Earth's place in it. Then we can prepare to save Ranma. I hope that it will be as simple as opening a channel of communication and straightening out a misunderstanding."

After educating her passengers on all things Jurai and the Galactic Police, LinOhki let them in on her plans to save Ranma and protect herself. Soon, she was several miles up over the center of the Moon's farside and the powering up began in a similar manner to the blatant show of power that had impressed Prince Herb, days before. Beams emitted from the forward crystalline structures and a globular chunk of the moon disappeared in a flash of light. The Moon now had a new crater about four miles in diameter and five miles deep. The edges overhung the black abyss that was the interior.

A beam came from a surface below the environmental dome, striking the center of the crater in the depths. Lightnings twisted and spiraled around the pillar of light as something formed and penetrated a good way toward the Moon's center. When it winked out a few minutes after it started there was a crystal pyramid several hundred feet tall. Only LinOhki knew its purpose and her passengers were not told the truth about its creation or why she invested so much of herself in it. When she was done, it was a simple matter to generate a moonquake that caused the overhanging edges to collapse, covering the construct from prying eyes. Burying the pyramid in no way reduced its effectiveness and would shield it from prying eyes.

* * *

Cologne sat meditating inside a crystalline construct as LinOhki went about placing organic crystalline linkups to her navigation, sensory, weapons, and drive systems in the Elder's brain. She maintained her overrides but gave the ancient woman plenty of leeway for battle situations. Unknown to the elder, were tie-ins to health maintenance nanites. Lin didn't want to lose her captain to frailty during a fight.

* * *

"Whheeee! Hoo Hah!" Cologne was having a blast. She wove through the asteroid belt like a bat out of hell. Make that an old bat out of hell. She could 'feel' the solar wind on her crystal skin. She could 'see' 360 degrees in x,y,z! Mousse and Xian Pu were terrified, watching the old crone sit in the captain's chair, cackling away while space spun around in a mad, dizzying dance outside the environmental dome. Every so often the gravitic compensators would shriek and they would float up or jerk into moment restraints that would appear in their seat. Suddenly on the far side of Saturn, a great hole formed in the rings as LinOhki shot through, slowing slightly as she absorbed the mass to neutronium ammunition.

Hours later LinOhki called a halt to the training as they grazed Europa at a significant fraction of light. To an earthbound telescope, it was the single most spectacular cosmic event in the solar system in decades, sparking debate about dark comets. "Cologne-san, let's not get too carried away. I think that you've gotten the hang of operating my systems in battle mode."

"Of course, dearie. Its just that I haven't had this much fun in 'centuries'."

"Cologne sensei, you've taught me a lot about battle acrobatics as a ship. Obviously Amazon Wu Shu makes excellent pilot training."

"When we get Ranma-chan back, we can come up with some cabbit katas for your ship form. If, as you tell me, Juraian ships can't maneuver like this, we will have an edge to compete with anyone." 'And I can start some long term plans for the tribe...especially if we can breed cabbits. I hope I can get Ranma to cooperate. Heh heh.'

* * *

Two days after creating the pyramid, LinOhki and her passengers were entering the atmosphere on a trajectory designed to approach the valley where Ranma had been trapped. At about one hundred thousand feet her sensors detected an explosion equal to the power of a tactical nuclear device in the valley of their destination. A ship of unfamiliar design emerged from the mushroom cloud, streaking off, followed by two cabbit ships. A scan showed that the house and a good portion of the valley had been flattened, except for one large tree. She figured that two of the ships were her mother and Ranma. Cologne concurred and turned to follow as discretely as possible while LinOhki tried to reestablish her link to Ranma.

A/N Sorry about the long dry spell and short chapter. The next chapter will go over what happened to Ranma and the Tenchi crew. It'll be out when it's ready. 27DEC05


	7. Hello Nerth 2

Disclaim me do rey mi fa so la ti do. I don't own Ranma or Tenchi or any thing else that may be hinted at in here. So much fanfiction has been written that is guaranteed that anything I write is probably plagiarism of some sort. 

Brief A/N: Frodo and Mary Sue live!…in the Poconos.

**A Wild Horse and His Cabbit**

Hello Nerth 2

RanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanma

Ranma groaned. Her head felt like a balloon and just as empty. She realized that her link to LinOhki had been cut off and the sudden loneliness was crushing. An eye opened to take in her surroundings. She was suspended in a tube of glasslike material in a large space filled with all kinds of esoteric equipment.

She began to move spastically, meowing in a pitiable manner.

Washu sat outside the tube at her holographic console looking at Mihoshi with lidded eyes. 'Maybe this will finally rein in some of your dangerous klutziness Mihoshi.' "Now, you can put away the control cube. Once I link you to this cabbit that fortune has given us, all you should have to do is picture in your mind what you need and it will produce whatever you wish, or a reasonable facsimile."

"Oh goody! A new partner!…but won't Kiyone be upset?"

"Nah. She can have the other one as soon as I can catch it and process its control circuitry. This one was marginal, not enough masu to take ship form, even. I took care of that and all you have to do is sit in that chair so I can get you hooked up."

Mihoshi looked up at the observation booth where the rest of he friends were standing. Tenchi forced a smile and gave her a thumbs up and Sasami grinned from ear to ear. Kiyone was in the back of the group doing a credible imitation of a Snoopy dance quietly singing 'free at last, free at last'. Ryoko was pensive, 'Washu, you'd BETTER not turn Mihoshi into a sister! Or something as bad.' Tenchi was worried, remembering some of Washu's technological backfires. Ayeka looked longingly at Tenchi. Tenchi just continued to worry. Katsuhito kept his thoughts to himself. Tenchi worried.

Mihoshi sat in the chair. In response clamps restrained her arms and legs and a bar secured her middle in the chair. The red headed genius began tapping away at the ethereal console, laughing maniacally while little, winged puppet Washus flew around her head blowing on tiny trumpets.

In her prison, Ranma ceased her movement and settled down in the bottom of the tube.

Washu's guinea pigs…subjects…'uhh' fellow fiancée candidate and her new partner began to glow a golden color. There was a Mona Lisa smile on the detective's lips as her dna was modified to make her receptive to the link. In the peanut gallery, Katsuhito's eyes narrowed as he sensed what seemed to be human chi streaks in the glow around the cabbit. He wanted to interrupt, but knew better. It would just have to take its course and they could do something about it later.

* * *

Ranma woke up between two very comfortable pillows and stretched languorously before cracking open her eyes to notice that the large 'pillows belonged to a lightly snoring, tanned, blonde, good smelling, cute…(Cute?), gaijin woman who's stomach she was laying on. 'Oh sh…' She began to inch away from that position and thoughts of being attacked for a hentai act floated in her head. Ranma floated up and headed out to get away when she was jerked to a stop, short of the wall.

Washu walked through a portal. "Mihoshi, rise and shine. Its time for cabbit control 101. Your new partner was just trying to skip out on you, and would have if I didn't have the leash field activated."

The blond girl yawned and rolled to the side due to a feeling of cut off circulation to her rump and scratched an ear on the top of her head. She stopped, wearing a confused look as something fuzzy and snakelike whipped around whacking her back occasionally. "Wha..?"

"The ears and tail are just side effects of the bonding. You'll get used to them." 'Another thing that I didn't expect. Probably because it's a feral…'

Mihoshi slowly craned her neck to look at her backside and grabbed the new tail and shouted "Kawaii!" She ran to the dresser mirror and felt an ear with her free hand and shouted again, "Kawaii!"

Washu sweat dropped…big.

Ranma was observing all of this from the air while little droplets of blood came from her nose, hitting the floor.

Mihoshi and Washu turned at hearing a thump to see a passed out cabbit. 'Strange. Why would a cabbit be shy?' thought Washu as she saw the blood on the red fur around Ranma's nose.

A few minutes later, Mihoshi was dressed in clothes custom made by Washu to accommodate the girl's new appendage.

* * *

The whole crew went out to the lawn that ran down to the lake to observe the training. Washu was wearing a labcoat and pointing to a chalkboard that hadn't been there a minute ago.

"Now, Mihoshi, all you have to do is picture what you want and the subroutines will execute your request in the most efficient manner. Your cabbit is like a dog. She will faithfully do whatever you want because of the programming. I designed them to be the perfect subsentient companion, about as capable as a dog or a dolphin, with the computer taking care of all technological details."

Mihoshi then spoke up, "But that's not what Ranma says. She said that she's not stupid and that you are a $)(r! -0&() slaver that is $9($ forcing her to +-$ be a goddamned servant. OH MY! She says she wants to rip off your $#(-) arms and stuff them up your ):"& thick thighed butt till you can pick your nose from your mouth and that she is a martial artist, not a pet."

Every one standing around had turned to stone, their ears were bright red, though, at the low vulgarity that had come from Mihoshi's mouth. Sasami was looking around, not having understood the worst of the language. She knew that it was bad, "Washu-chan. Why is Ranma… That's right, Mihoshi-san? Why is Ranma so mad at you?"

Ranma, meanwhile, had begun to glow an angry red and floated up to eye level to stare into Washu's eyes as if weighing her worth as a boat anchor.

After a few seconds, Washu turned her eyes away, shuddering. The intelligence behind those eyes was not that of a pet. She knew sentience when it slapped her in the face.

Washu bowed low to Ranma, "Gomen, Ranma dono. It appears that I have made a grave error based on assumptions about old design. Sasami, Ranma has reason to be angry." Ranma's glow faded, but her nose turned up into the air and she sniffed pointedly. "I took away an innocent sentient being's free will for no good reason other than to be Mihoshi's pet and as a foil to her…well, never mind. I did something wrong and I'll do what I have to to make it up." A lone tear of shame tracked down her face. Ranma didn't miss it and her expression began to change.

Mihoshi smiled at Ranma and said, "Washu-chan, Ranma says she will forgive you if you do as you say. She takes back what she said and that your thighs are only a little thick and only need a little exercise. Kappa kappa kappa?" Ranma sweat dropped, 'Wow, wonder why she didn't attack me?'

* * *

Very short section. As to why Mihoshi was kappa'd, why not? May be a little while till the next chapter comes out and I want to make it longer. This one just bubbled up and popped out.

31DEC05


	8. Hello Nerth 3

Disclaim me do rey mi fa so la ti do. I don't own Ranma or Tenchi or any thing else that may be hinted at in here. So much fanfiction has been written that is guaranteed that anything I write is probably plagiarism of some sort. 

Brief A/N:

Frodo and Mary Sue live!…in the Poconos.

This is a revision and reposting of this chapter. I tried to follow some of Gangsta Spanksta's advice. And thank everyone for their honest criticism and helpful comments.

Mihoshi's link will become a mere communication link when Ranma reestablishes his connection to LinOhki.

**A Horse and His Cabbit**

Hello Nerth 3

RanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanma

All of the girls were in Washu's palatial subspace bathhouse, including Ranma and RyoOhki. RyoOhki was in her toddler form and she was staring intently at Ranma, who was returning the favor.

Mihoshi called out to Ranma, "Why don't you and RyoOhki join us? The water feels wonderful." Ranma glanced at the pool. 'Beautiful women-check, in the water up to their necks-check (whew!), steam from water may help hide embarrassment-check, may as well risk it. Ranma bounded to the pool's edge while RyoOhki strolled over, removing her jumper.

Ranma leapt in and began swimming toward Mihoshi, who gasped at what she saw. Her gasp was repeated by all females present, including RyoOhki who shifted to her cabbit form and entered the pool wearing a lidded gaze.

Mihoshi was surprised. "Ranma, your fur is black now and your gem turned red!" She picked the cabbit up to admire her new look and took on a look of shock. "Washu! Ranma's not a girl cabbit any more! Look! Naughty bits! Look!" Ranma shrank into himself at being held up for display, however innocently, by Mihoshi. "Oh, I'm sorry Ranma. I didn't mean to embarrass you." She set him into her lap, allowing him to sit comfortably, head above the water.

Washu was moving around to get a better look, the 'I've found a guinea pig' look in her eyes. RyoOhki was swimming toward him with an entirely different look, one that said the equivalent of, 'Oh My! KenOhki looks like an adolescent to this deliciously male, male. KenOhki who?' RyoOhki began to emit pheromones to match those that Ranma was unconsciously sending out. Ryoko instantly recognized what was going on as RyoOhki started nuzzling an increasingly nervous Ranma. About that time the other women noticed the smell and pronounced a group "EEWWW!"

Ryoko shouted "She's in heat!" All of the female humanoids made to get out of the pool as fast as they could and headed for the showers on one side of the room to wash off the pungent scent.

Ranma had memories of pets and farm animals at farms and monasteries that he and his father stopped at during their journeys and animals in heat. Something clicked. RyoOhki was a type of animal, sort of. He was also a type of animal, sort of. He and RyoOhki were both cabbits. He began to feel dizzy from whatever perfume was in the air. It. Did. Smell. Good. RyoOhki began to gently push him toward the edge of the pool. As the two cabbits left the pool, Ranma's thoughts began to scramble as RyoOhki nuzzled him, nipping him behind his ears every once in a while. His conscious mind fled, but his body went on in autopilot, which was just fine with the female cabbit.

Ryoko said "Let's get out of here!" The women dressed quickly and exited the bathing area. Washu set the area recording functions to get as much data as possible before anything else happened. Taking one last look at the act in progress, Washu grinned like a possum eating poop as she reluctantly closed the door.

* * *

Late the next day, two cabbits left the women's bathing area. RyoOhki was absolutely glowing and now smelled like sakura blossoms. She seemed like she only needed a feather in her mouth to have 'The Look'. Ranma's fur was in disarray and he moved very carefully. He had a look of his own, sort of a horrified enjoyment. He cracked an eye open and looked at Mihoshi and jumped into her lap, falling to sleep in an instant.

Mihoshi looked over at Washu and said, nervously, "Ranma doesn't exactly blame you for this, accident, but if you don't give him what he needs to be human again, SOON, he will #$&)(#!$&#$# you and smile about it." This time, only Washu and Katsuhito became stone statues with red ears and crossed eyes as only they knew what the very esoteric martial arts technique involved was.

Later, it was discovered that water was Ranma's gender trigger, when Mihoshi was giving the sleeping Ranma a sponge bath with cold water. Since he was asleep Washu had Mihoshi take him to the lab where she alternated cool and warm water baths while scanning him and her deeply with her most advanced instrumentation. She finally infused him with enough Masu to allow him to reach fully adult status. "I wonder if he'll be a man among men like he's a buck among buck cabbits (insert maniacal laughter)!"

Washu then got RyoOhki's cooperation using a basket of carrots as a bribe. After an hour of analysis, they came out of the lab. The little cabbit had a very human-like grin and Washu had the 'possum' grin again. The other residents were seated around the den waiting on food to finish cooking, Sasami having completed everything but one item in the oven. Ranma was in Mihoshi's lap being petted by the blonde klutzand Kiyone.

"Well, everyone, it appears that cabbits won't be an endangered species any time soon. RyoOhki is pregnant! Seven times over, not counting her 'backup'." Everyone had a shocked look and Ranma fainted. "Ryoko. The only reason that KenOhki and RyoOhki went at it for six months is that it took that long for her to get pregnant. Her heat is over and it's a good thing that the eggs can incubate indefinitely because I don't know what we'll do with all those cabbits, three males and four females."

Ryoko was going "Buhdee buhdee buhdee yuh buhdee…"

Ranma was doing the same in his mind and the feedback had Mihoshi going "Buhdee buhdee buhdee yuh buhdee…" in time to Ryoko. Her head jerked every so often, like a vinyl record skipping.

Katsuhito was chuckling while Tenchi looked embarrassed at the lidded gazed Ayeka was giving him.

Ryoko suddenly recovered "Hey! Miss royal panties, don't even think about doing that with MY Tenchi!"

"Like you would even know what I think, you old monster woman!"

Ryoko blasted Ayeka through the open doors before her shield had time to fully implement and followed her outside. Battle sounds followed.

Sasami stated in a slightly oblivious, Kasumiesque way, "Don't they play well together. Well, I'll go get dinner set out. The dining room will be ready in fifteen minutes."

Ranma 'toinged' into wakefulness at that.

Washu, noting his sudden awakening said, "Ranma why don't you see if you can come to dinner in your human form."

He stared at her and swayed as if on the verge of fainting again. The cabbit took on a look of intense concentration and began to grow until a young man with long black hair and a red gem in the center of his forehead stood before them. He took a look at his hands in wonder and suddenly glomped Washu's adolescent form. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She grinned and grew to her bombshell adult form and returned the glomp with a hug. RyoOhki frowned and left the room with a tear running down one cheek, something Washu didn't miss.

"Hey big boy, why don't we go to my room and I can get rid of these irritating clothes…"

Ranma looked confused for a second when a draft told him why some of the observers eyes were so large. Instantly, he grabbed a pillow to belatedly hide one part of his anatomy and backed into a corner. "I'msorrypleasedon'tkillmeI'msorrypleasedon'tkillmeI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry…" was coming out rapid-fire, as a disappointed Washu returned to her twelve year old's body.

"Don't worry Ranma, its okay. Its not anything I haven't seen before, though I am impressed that you live up to your name. Now why don't we get every one into the dining room and you can tell us all about it over a good meal. Err, as soon as you get dressed. Tenchi, your clothes might fit, though they may be tight in the shoulders and one other place."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, all but Washu and RyoOhki were seated at the table. Ayeka and Ryoko's hair was a little burned but they had cleaned up a bit. They were staring at the young Adonis along with the rest of the females, making Ranma feel like a piece of meat that was being evaluated by a chef.

It was at that point that Washu entered the room followed by an stunningly exotic young woman whose eyes were downcast. She wore a robe decorated with a carrot motif. Claws on bare feet click clicked on the floor as she walked. The mostly mad scientist had a suspicious gleam in her eye. Ranma didn't need to be told who it was. He leapt up and lightly hugged the woman and whispered into her ear, "I couldn't help myself but I 'will' be a good father…a better father than mine was. You're way beyond kawaii." Tears began to stream down the fur of the cabbit girl's face. "Hey don't cry. I don't know anythin about relationships but maybe we can be friends and go from there, just don't cry. I can't handle cryin."

RyoOhki spoke, Ryoko and Washu wore surprised looks, "Miyahh. Rrranmma I'mm sorry that I took advvantage of you. It wasn't yourr fault. I'mm not an animmmal orr a pet eitherr."

"I can't believe that I'll be a daddy and I still say that I'll be there for ya. At the very least, I'll be there for ya as a friend and a father for our kids." RyoOhki renewed her hug and crying into Ranma's shoulder. "Come on, enough cryin. Let's get some eatin done.

Ranma told his story of growing up on a training journey, making and losing friends and of the disasters that befell when he and his father entered Jusenkyo's waters. When he finished, with his attempt to acquire masu to regain his gender and humanity, the people around him were reacting according to their natures.

Eventually the anger auras died down and the death threats against Genma's hide were squelched when Ranma reserved the right for his father's punishment, if any.

* * *

When dinner was finished RyoOhki stepped outside, wearing a pensive look on her face. For once, Ranma saw this and followed.

RyoOhki walked along the margin of the lake, immersed in memories, including the ones in her databanks. They were all there. Interacting with Ranma had somehow catalyzed her intellect and what used to be sensed in a haze became crystal clear. She HAD been an animal, a useful pet, a weapon and pack mule. Ryoko was in for a surprise if she expected blind obedience from now on. She wondered if Ranma could 'awaken' KenOhki, but for some reason it aggravated her to think of Ranma doing the same thing that had thrust her into sentience.

The people here had become like a family to her, but she wondered, could her, Ranma and their children become a real family? Ranma's promise to be a friend and a good father to their children brought a powerful emotion welling up to fill her to the bursting point. Was it…could she be…could she be in love? Tears began to run down her cheeks anew. Even if she loved Ranma, he couldn't love her. She had trapped him through blind instinct and she felt through their loose link that he would rebel against any forced relationship. Her crying became vocal as a sad mewing carried over the water.

She felt fingers lift her chin to stare into the bottomless blue pools that belonged to the being that had awakened her to the pain of being sentient, to have a feeling that some things might be right or wrong. she reached up and wrapped her arms around Ranma while still searching his eyes for something that matched what she felt. He said nothing for long moments, which for once was exactly the right thing to do. He placed an arm around her waist and they walked.

Their path carried them to a shallow pool surrounding a truly large tree and across stepping stones to a bower nestled at its base. Ranma sat and pulled her into his lap and looked at the stars through the foliage so high above. Sparkling points of light moved about them, like magical fireflies.

Finally, Ranma broke the silence, barely speaking above a whisper. "Ryo-chan, I gotta tell ya. I'm scared ta death of what's gonna happen. I came to myself a couple of hours after we started…you know. It was the greatest thing in tha world. I could feel what a nice, wonderful person ya were. Forget about us bein animals. Ya were a person dressed in a cute animal body. It wasn't mind reading we were doin, but it was somethin better. Kinda like we was sharin our souls."

"Ranma, that's just what I was feeling. I didn't know if you were getting the same response I was or not. I-I fell in love. I'm pretty positive. Yes, I know I fell in love with you."

"How come ya can speak so good now? Ya were barely able to talk, before."

"Silly anata, that's what comes of having an ultra computer as a part of you. Things like language are a snap when you realize what you can do by just thinking it."

RyoOhki's smile was so unbearably cute that he pulled her to him and started a kiss that was returned in full measure. A large pink aura sprang up around the two that didn't dissipate after the kiss was done.

Ranma asked, "Do ya want ta find out what its like in the bodies we're wearin now?"

Her only reply was a nod as she pulled him down onto the fragrant grass as the firefly like motes of light continued to sparkle about as if reveling in the pink glow coming from the two. In the branches overhead a ghostly woman with long twin ponytails smiled before disappearing. She was thinking, 'It looks like my sister has got the beginnings of a new people. I approve.'

* * *

RyoOhki woke up to a feeling of exquisite fulfillment. She opened her eyes to see her lover's long red hair, sparkling with dew in the morning light. Apparently the change had happened when the moisture in the air had condensed enough to cause it. She gazed raptly at the petite figure of her special someone and wrapped the small girl into a snug embrace, her eyes glistening with emotion.

"Wake up, anata, we have a lot to do."

Ranma groaned. She opened her eyes and froze, relaxing when memory returned. "Ryo-chan, was last night as wonderful as I remember?"

"No. It was better." They untangled arms and legs to stand up, taking each other's appearance. "Nice tail, by the way." Ranma looked over her shoulder at the new appendage, while RyoOhki took on a distant look and a short kimono-like robe decorated with carrots in a cross stitch motif shimmered into existence on her lithe body.

Ranma 'saw' how she did it and a few seconds of concentration later was dressed in black silk pants with ankle ties and a blue silk shirt with a rearing stallion facing a western dragon on the front. Her tail extended from an ingenious flap in the back of her pants. "Why don't we clean up in the onsen before breakfast. I'd like ta be a man for ya."

They came together and kissed deeply before walking back to the house, arm in arm. Ranma asked, " When do ya want the wedding?" RyoOhki looked at Ranma in stunned happiness, eyes once again glistening. "I know ya could probably do a lot better'n me, but I want ta be able ta take ya ta my Mom, if she's still alive, that is. What about you is your mom still around?"

RyoOhki looked saddened. "If I have a mother, it would have to be Washu-chan. You see, she created KenOhki and I out of Masu and some mineral life forms. She must have included some of her own dna for me to be able to gain this form you see. Ryoko would then be kind of a sister with a blend of Masu and Washu's genes."

As they neared the house, Ranma could tell that breakfast had just begun preparation and she thought of a way to cheer up the slightly depressed looking cabbit girl. "Hey, Sasami's gonna be a while getting breakfast ready. Why don't we get some trainin in on our way ta the onsen?" Ranma shrunk down to her red-furred cabbit form and made a silly face with crossed eyes and long tongue out, going "Biidaaa!"

RyoOhki nearly fell over with laughter, as she shifted to her own brown, black and white furred cabbit form. She began to give chase on the ground, through the treetops and in the air while Ranma dodged and mostly missed or phased through obstacles while going backwards the whole time, never failing to make a ridiculous face. The two continuously were miyahing up a storm of cabbit laughter.

* * *

The cabbits were being observed from the portico. Washu was in a reflective mood and Katsuhito stood silently beside her admiring the way that Ranma was using martial arts moves as a cabbit and, unbeknownst to RyoOhki, was training her in them as well.

After a few minutes the cabbits disappeared into the onsen and chased the other female occupants out with a great deal of splashing and loud giggling. "You know, Washu-chan, it isn't too late to be a mother to your daughters." She turned away, staring at the onsen. He didn't see it but he could sense the lonely tear tracking down her cheek as he went inside.

* * *

At breakfast, a freshly scrubbed Ranma and RyoOhki were sitting as if glued at the hip. Ranma's tail was notably missing in his male form. Ayeka and Ryoko were seated beside Tenchi, making him very uncomfortable. Kiyone, Mihoshi, Sasami and Washu were in the other seats with Katsuhito at the head of the low table. All were watching Ranma inhale his food in horror. After a minute, the young martial artist noticed and reduced the rate of eating to one more polite. "I'm sorry, my father and even the Amazons ta a lesser amount viewed eating as martial art training."

"I hope that you won't continue to practice that vulgar display of macrophagia in this house." This was Ayeka pontificating.

"Well your high pantywad, I think that my nephew's just a guy with a healthy appetite. Right 'Mom', he is Ryo-chans son's brother…err…sister?"

A light went off in Ranma's head. "Do you mean that Lin-chan was a boy…cabbit? It figures. We were both in the spring of drowned young girl and she never got hit with hot water. According to KhoLun, the spring won't make us related, but I got changed different from other people that fall inta the springs, probly cause Lin-chan was still in the egg. Anyway, thing is that I'm not related ta Ryo-chan and I'm gonna marry her."

He was met by silence from around the table.

"Well! She's gonna have my babies an my honor won't let them be without a father and a name. AND, by the kami, I'll do my best to be a good father ta 'em."

Katsuhito interrupted Ranma, "That's all well and good, but the Juraian empire will not be happy with beings as powerful as yourselves just running around unchecked…"

"Well, I-they won't. They will be raised as martial artists. A martial artist's first duty is ta protect the weak an those that can't defend themselves an if anyone thinks that they can lord it over my friends, family or the weak…well, they better watch out. Ya are all friends an gonna be family, but don't make me choose between ya anMY 'family' ya won't like the answer."

"That is just the answer I wanted to hear, Ranma." Surprisingly, this came from Washu. Katsuhito merely sat back and nodded. "I think that you are the perfect husband…or whatever for my youngest daughter. RyoOhki can you forgive me for taking advantage of you? I'll be there for you in the future. My children are going to be a force in this universe and I want to be there for them."

RyoOhki spoke quietly, "Something I had always missed was a parent." Ranma nudged her and she went to Washu and took her hands. "I love Ranma very much and it means a lot that you affirm our choice. I hope you'll never be sorry."

"If we're going to make this work, we have to get you recognized as a sentient group. Thanks to Ranma's dip in the spring, I think that you will qualify as an adopted subset of humanity, a very special subset that I will take responsibility for at the court of Jurai. Part of this process will be to give you a proper wedding on Jurai."

"Thanks Mom, ya got my vote now. Uhh by the way, can you use your computer ta find my mom. I haven't seen her in over ten years and want ta introduce her ta my new family."

"BUWHAA HA HA HA HA HA! That's nothing to the greatest scientific genius in the universe!" 'I still got it!' "I'll find her and we'll have her here at lunch! Bye, got a job to get to." Everyone sweatdropped at Washu's return to her normal self.

Katsuhito averred, "If your mother is alive, Ranma, Washu will have done exactly as she said by noon. We have a guest room, you and Ryo-chan can retire there to 'discuss' your plans."

'Discussion' did not exactly cover their activity for the remainder of the morning. Katsuhito did interrupt Washu to request more insulation for the walls of the guest room.

* * *

Just before noon the residents were sitting around the dining room table, waiting on the last person to arrive. Ranma was nervous. Could his mother-in-law deliver on her promise? Small talk dominated the conversation in anticipation of an announcement.

When Washu finally walked in she maintained a straight face until she was almost at the table when she broke out in laughter. "Oh. I am the best. I found her in minutes, but setting up a tracking portal took a bit." A snap of her fingers brought her holographic monitor and keyboard. On the screen, Ranma could see a kimono clad woman who resembled his girl form. He wondered where the red hair had come from, since it was so rare in Japan. Washu brought out a remote with one red button and said "Say hello to your mother, Ranma!" Pushing the button caused the monitor to expand into a door sized opening to somewhere, just as the woman stepped through.

The portal vanished. Washu said "Hello Nodoka Saotome, welcome to the Masaki shrine."

Upon realizing that she had been transported somewhere without being asked, she pulled a katana and its sheath from the silk wrapped bundle in her arms. In spite of the restrictive kimono she took, what was to Ranma, a very workman-like offensive stance. His respect for her was solidly set from that opening move.

"Who are you and how did I get here!" In a tone that showed a trace of anger.

"Well, I just thought that Ranma's mother would want to be involved in his wedding plans."

Ranma piped up, "Hi Mom!"

Nodoka took in Ranma and the odd looking girl latched onto him and rolled her eyes up into her head and fainted. Her son caught her, avoiding the falling blade. He set her onto the couch. Washu said, "I guess that went as well as expected. She'd better brace herself when she wakes up." She took what looked like a whoopee cushion from the air and squeezed it under the woman's nose, creating a flatulent noise. The smell of ammonia caused several to wrinkle their noses.

"Huh…Zwhaa?"

Katsuhito decided to take the lead, to neutralize some people's lack of tact. "I'm sorry for the abrupt way that you were brought here. Some, living here are given to bouts of impetuosity. Again, My apologies."

"Ranma. Son, is that really you."

"Yes, Mom. It's me. I asked Washu-chan over there ta…to help me find you. I've missed ya…you for so long. I couldn't even picture what you looked like any more, but one look and I knew. I knew it was you." Tears started to run down his face. "Mom, before an accident happens, I gottta…I've got to tell you about what has happened since I left with Pops."

So Ranma told his story again while everyone ate the repast provided by Sasami. Two hours later, "…and that's why I want to get married to RyoOhki. It's the only honorable way to handle it."

Nodoka had remained quiet through the whole story, no matter how fantastic. When she looked at the others seated at the table when some particularly outrageous part of the tale was recounted, they didn't bat an eye, or would add some even more unbelievable bit to the story.

When she sensed that it was done, she took a deep breath and counted to fifty in an attempt to calm herself. "Ranma, your fiancée is a beautiful exotic woman, but I am hard pressed not to discount your story without proof."

"Of course, Mom, I'd think it was crazy too, but I wanted you to know all of it first. Watch carefully." Ranma and RyoOhki shrank to reveal two cabbits staring at her with sadness filling their eyes.

Nodoka gasped, "Oh my!" Her hand covered her mouth. "Can can you restore yourselves." They complied. "Now what about you changing into a girl?"

Ranma took a glass of water set well to one side for that purpose and poured it over his head. Nodoka's heart almost broke over the sad look in her daughter's eyes as she looked through her dripping bangs. "Oh my darling son…daughter, whatever." She gently took Ranma into her arms.

"You aren't going to ask me to commit seppuku?"

"Child, that was just a fiction of your father to justify kidnapping you from me. I would never ask you to do something so barbaric." She tightened her hug. "Do you really transform into a space ship?"

"Yeah, Mom, actually I think of myself as a starship. Though I haven't done that yet… So how do you feel about seven grand kids?"

Washu piped in, "Ranma, I set up a monitor for that purpose and Fertile Myrtle there has twelve little ones developing nicely. I should have a contraceptive implant ready this evening."

Nodoka jumped up and did a short fan dance, "Grandkids!" until her eyes rolled up into her head and she had fainted, falling on top of Ranma who had fainted the instant that Washu had passed on the good news.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon was spent with the mother's, son-daughter and daughter getting acquainted or reacquainted on the porch overlooking the lake. Katsuhito just stood thinking about Achika and going over his long memories and lost loves at the shrine. Late evening brought Tenchi's father home from a two week business trip to America. Tenchi brought him up to date on the happenings, actually slapping his father when he went on about getting his video camera to catch the bedroom action that night.

* * *

Next day:

(Insert standard Ranma-Tenchi sparring session followed by equally standard Ranma-Ryoko grudge match because Ranma won, all moderated-orchestrated by Katsuhito.)

Ranma lay, face into the lawn, after Ryoko had called up the mother of all hammers when he had stuck his foot halfway down his throat asking how old she was and was she a 'house sitter' for tombs awaiting their rightful occupants.

RyoOhki and Nodoka were helping Ranma get up when Tenchi, Ayeka, Katsuhito and Sasami disappeared into thin air. Washu brought up tactical and announced "They've been kidnapped and a shielded bomb is on its way. Folks we got thirty seconds to get the hell out of dodge or we're all dead!"

Ranma looked at RyoOhki and the two nodded at each other. Shortly, two massive ships left in pursuit, carrying their precious cargo, just as the bomb's wave front temporarily caught up and passed them. The two cabbits accelerated, chasing the obviously Juraian vessel after such a cowardly attack. A third cabbit ship pulled into the line. Ranma was relieved that LinOhki had done okay. He prepared to contact the other two as they all followed the enemy into the event horizon of a wormhole.

08JAN06


	9. Raising Kaine

Disclaim me do rey mi fa so la ti do. I don't own Ranma or Tenchi or any thing else that may be hinted at in here. So much fanfiction has been written that is guaranteed that anything I write is probably plagiarism of some sort. 

Brief A/N:

Frodo and Mary Sue live!…in the Poconos.

If you haven't, please reread chapter 8. There was a major rewrite.

This is a short transition chapter.

**A Horse and His Cabbit**

Raising Kaine

RanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanma 

The bomb was launched as Tsunami stepped out of Funaho's trunk. She had been weakened when forcibly separated from Sasami and would have perished had not Funaho been nearby. The tree sensed the incoming weapon and called on her own lighthawk wings to form a dome shield to protect her goddess and a large area around and below herself. The shield went opaque as the area outside went white in explosive violence.

As the weapon spent itself outside, Tsunami fell to her hands and knees, weeping. It was up to her sister and their friends to save her children, Jurai and herself. One of her second generation trees had been suborned by something evil and, like a spear in the gut, left her helpless, awaiting an end.

The three cabbit ships were accelerating down the wormhole, gaining on the wooden ship. Ranma was in the lead. Inside his environmental dome, his holographic image looked back at his mother, Washu and Nobuyuki.

"Ranma, what's your status?"

His image flickered a bit. "All of my systems are at peak efficiency thanks to the equalization Lin-chan and I went through. I'm set for several hundred years at maximum output. However my neutronium reserves need building up. Why is RyoOhki so small?" The image wavered and went out with a spark. Seconds later it returned. "Sorry about that. I just reestablished contact with LinOhki. We exchanged a hundred sixty petabytes of information and I had to assimilate it."

"Impressive Ranma. Can I have your permission to access your computer systems from my terminal? Mine are temporarily unavailable in this wormhole, but yours might be sufficient."

"Sure. Just a second…Lin-chan and Ryo-chan said that they will link all nonessential systems with me. Will that help?"

"Yeah, it just might put us over the top." The young looking genius brought up her keyboard and monitor and frantically danced her fingers across the board. The increase in activity in Ranma's subsystems increased to their theoretical maximum and one subsystem responded by increasing capacity and advancing his haleuristics far beyond Washu's original design specs. She had no idea where the logarithmic increase in computing power was coming from, but she damn well would use it. New sensor array crystals formed on Ranma's exterior surfaces and new weapon systems grew and mutated as evolution was speeded up a million-fold.

Soon Washu shouted, "Got it!"

Washu told Ranma, "Its an old enemy that I thought was gone forever. Apparently he was able to possess a minor noble of Jurai and subvert a second generation ship. Its name is Kaine and he must have been able to recover enough power to trap the royal family on earth in crystal prisons and tap their power. I don't know what we can do to defeat him and save them without killing them. If Sasami dies, Tsunami may never recover and the empire will be easy pickings for any two bit despot that comes along."

"Are they fully surrounded by these crystals?" asked Ranma.

"Yes, they're in a stasis pocket inside. Why?"

"Isn't that ship made of organics?"

"Its all made of wood, super dense wood, nevertheless."

"Well, Lin chan and I have about 100 grams of aetherium each and at least a ton of elerium…"

"So a kilo of elerium in a shape charge around a couple grams of aetherium and he will lose the ship and the body that he is using. The light hawk wings won't stop the anti-omega rays from doing their work. That's brilliant, though it won't set Kaine back much at this point. He has four members of the royal family as living batteries. That is the problem. By the time we beat him down they will be dead, drained of all their energy and he will still have his own restored native power."

Ranma said, "We need to figure a way to cut him off from them, to interrupt the drain, right? Surely the greatest scientific genius in the universe could figure something out."

"I'll be working on it."

"Hey Lin-chan, Ryo-chan come here."

Two more holo images appeared. "What have you got in mind Ranma?"

"You have the data. Any ideas on saving our friends?"

LinOhki spoke up, his hologram was definitely male now, "I have a hole shot that I was saving for us, but we could take them out of the fight completely." Mentally he told Ranma, 'This is something I don't want Washu or anyone else to know about, here's the data…' Washu could tell that data was streaming but the encryption was beyond her, for now.

"I see." Said Ranma. "You'll have to be close in to do that. Well Ryo-chan and I can distract him but you will probably only have one shot at this. Work with KhoLun to see if you can combine stealth techniques with her. MaoLin was just learning the basics when she merged with my former self and I believe that we can integrate human ki techniques into this war."

"Washu-chan, can you maintain the science station and keep looking for weaknesses to exploit? You may be our final hope for victory when it's all said and done."

Being stroked brought the young-old woman's aura up, "Sure thing! We'll show that criminal that he can't get away with this. After all, I'm the greatest scientific genius in this or any other universe. Buwahhahahahaha!" 'And I'll see what they are trying to hide from 'mother'. "Buwahhahahahaha!" The holograms both had digital sweatdrops at the second laugh.

Ranma then turned to his mother and Noboyuki, "Mom, Noboyuki-san, hopefully you will be okay in this coming battle to prevent a war. Please buckle into the seats there." A crystalline pod, open on the side facing the big screens and forward out the environmental dome, rose from the floor. "I hope that this will be enough to keep you safe no matter what happens to the rest of us."

"I have full faith and trust in you son. I plan on having lots of grandchildren to spoil. And, I want to be able to lavish motherly love on you, as well, for being all the son I could never have imagined and the daughter I never had." She whispered to Noboyuki, "I'm sure that my son, his friends and her family will save your loved ones."

The nervous man just strapped himself in and shuddered at the memories of his previous meeting with the monster that had cost him his wife at too young an age.

The cabbits were gaining on the second generation ship when they all passed the event horizon of the wormhole's exit. Revealed, was the Jurai home world with its butterfly rings of satellites, stations, and colonies. All cabbits went "Uh Oh!"

Ranma said, "You know what to do! Let's get them back and kick his ass!" LinOhki faded from sight and RyoOhki and Ranma spiraled away. Ranma played his opening gambit by firing hundreds of tiny missiles. Kaine's ship took apparent notice by extending three light hawk wings. At about that time the aetherium bomb detonated, after going around thirty degrees from the far side of the enemy. A wave of energy overtook the wooden ship and all space trees heard the keening of the disintegrating ship.

Where the Juraian ship had been, was a writhing black mass with a frowning white noh mask. "WHO DARES".

Ranma sent back, "I do, and I'm gonna kick your ass cause Ranma Saotome doesn't lose."

And the battle began.

12JAN2006


	10. Not Much Longer

Disclaim me do rey mi fa so la ti do. I don't own Ranma or Tenchi or any thing else that may be hinted at in here. So much fanfiction has been written that is guaranteed that anything I write is probably plagiarism of some sort. 

Brief A/N:

Frodo and Mary Sue live!…in the Poconos.

If you haven't, please reread chapter 8. There was a major rewrite.

I will likely never put together a single story longer than about 40k words. I 'may' get better over time, but the brevity will still be there and stories may seem a little rushed. I could revisit some earlier chapters to revise-add to, but don't count on it. I ain't that dependable. Sorry.

**A Horse and His Cabbit**

Not Much Longer

RanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanma

The entity known as Kaine glared at the two huge, but still smaller, crystalline constructs facing him. The writhing blackness began to settle into a vaguely anthropomorphic form with white porcelain seeming, clawed hands. Ranma scanned the criminal and came up with nothing from any sensors on the whereabouts of the royals. He let his ki sense roam and saw them arranged in a diamond pattern in the torso of the monstrosity.

Ranma came about to face Kaine at a tangent to the planet's surface, no need for innocent casualties if it could be avoided. "Ryo-chan, Lin-chan, he has the advantage. The hostages are in his torso. Ryo-chan, try to take potshots at his head and limbs and don't shoot the prison crystals. He'll figure out quick enough that we won't shoot them and will, I hope, bring them out to use as a shield. That is what we need to see. I'll take him in close."

On board RyoOhki, she was passing Ranma's words to her passengers, Kiyone and Mihoshi. Seats and heads up displays formed on the bridge, which the two GP officers took. "Mihoshi. I'm giving you fire control because your link now gives limited access to my and Ranma's sensor arrays. Kiyone, I want you on tactical. Watch for any opening or weaknesses and keep an eye on the whole theater. Ryoko, hold yourself in reserve. You know what we need."

Ryoko said, "Sure thing…partner, I got you covered."

Kiyone gave the expected professional response, while Mihoshi made a purring sound at her excitement over the realization that she would be playing with 'real blasters' and not her usual popguns.

LinOhki had Cologne firmly wrapped up in her own chair and HUD, counting on their hybrid stealth mode to give them their one shot. Cologne thought, 'Ranma, be careful, that…thing's aura is so evil that I feel nothing but despair'.

'Don't worry, Cologne. Ranma knows what he is doing.' LinOhki interjected her thoughts into the Matriarch's mind.

Shampoo and Mousse could do nothing but watch and worry.

Ranma was talking, asking Washu for any ideas. "Nope, not a clue."

"Thanks Washu."

All of this occurred in a few seconds.

At that point the defenses of the planet down below had been made aware of the intrusions of the arch criminal Kaine and two cabbits, unannounced in local Juraian space.

Azusa was enraged. "I want every available ship to destroy them all! Goddess, what is going on."

Funaho came into the royal war chamber as he said this. "Azusa! You oaf! Don't you recognize that cabbit's signature! What if Sasami, Tenchi or Yosho are aboard?"

"Heh. Don't attack the cabbits. Open a line of communication instead."

"Sorry sir. Thirty three hundred and twenty-eight ships have already opened up a broadside salvo at the invaders."

The emperor felt a chill. Looking over at Funaho and Misaki, who had just arrived, he knew what was causing it.

In space, the adversaries had taken note of the more than one hundred thousand energy pulses coming.

Kaine raised an arm at the incoming weapons targeted at him and shot out a wide beam of blackness against which the initial weapons discharged, setting off any following beams or missiles. "Let the little cabbits waste their energy fending off this. What?"

Ranma's response was a harvest. Lightnings built up along the spires of the mighty ship, which began to glow like a new star over Jurai. Four ravening beams of annihilation speared out from the forward spires, joining into one kilometers from his location. A single great beam shot into the leading edge of the oncoming salvo, exploding into a sphere that encompassed everything from the satellite rings to near the fight. The globe then shrank to nothing, Leaving a void where a huge mass of missiles and two battleships had managed to intrude.

Kaine had weakened incrementally and was dumbfounded at seeing his own adversary half again as large as before the salvo.

Washu was belatedly opening a communication line to the royal court. Her relief was evident at getting Funaho. "Funaho! Don't fire on this battle. Kaine has Yosho, Ayeka, Tenchi and Sasami as hostages. Killing him will definitely kill them."

Funaho held an almost even look, like cracked ice, "If Sasami weren't hostage I would say that the sacrifice was necessary for the greater good of Jurai. You MUST get her back unharmed at any cost. I will see to my husband's 're-education' in the art of war as we pray for your success."

"Sure thing Funaho."

Washu looked toward Ranma's image, getting a nod.

Outside, the fight was heating up, literally. Inky blackness would fire from Kaine's hand and splash across Ranma's shielding, seeming to eat away at it. Ranma kept up his fire at any exposed part of the enemy, holding back out of fear for the captives.

RyoOhki seemed to be having better luck as nearly every shot fired from Mihoshi's station scored. To Ranma's chagrin, more than a couple had been bank shots off his own shielding.

After another hour of Kaine pounding Ranma but getting nowhere, the criminal headed out from Jurai toward the next planet out. "Ranma, watch him, he's going to do something really bad if he gets into a gravity well."

Kaine thought to himself. 'Wonderful now the tables will turn on the flying rat. They are stuck firing from a distance and those mountains will make it harder to hit me. He will just use up his energy and I'll finish him when he's weakened himself. Heh heh.'

Ranma had figured it out for himself and closed in, taking hits from the black plasma-like substance that the monster used for a weapon.

After one hit that destroyed three of Ranma's spires, the martial artist turned starship began to delve into the databanks for a counter. A few hundred million CPU cycles later an answer presented itself.

Washu gasped as the environmental dome and a portion of Ranma's self split away from the fight, taking them on a mad, dodging path away from the fight. Some deft manipulation of the console gave her some control of their flight and a look at what was happening as Ranma entered the planet's atmosphere while RyoOhki skimmed the higher levels, still taking potshots at Kaine.

Ranma's form began to change. A tall humanoid form was now falling to the surface after Kaine. It looked much like a samurai's armor made of violet and black crystal. A thin shield rested on one arm and a monstrous katana was held in the opposite hand.

Ranma touched down facing Kaine and stood in a deceptive stance towering above the valley floor at almost two hundred meters. His enemy was a giant humanoid silhouette with chagrin showing on the pasty mask of a face. A sword of blackness formed in one hand as a ball of writhing blackness floated above the other.

The titans first clash was a surprise to the criminal. His plasma ball just ricocheted into the mountainside and the sword clove through his own and his blade did not return to him, instead, turning to dust.

Ranma thought, 'Yes! Neutronium shield and edge to the blade rocks.' He leapt in a somersault that should have had the sword beheading Kaine, but the element of surprise had been lost. Instead he felt pain as one of his legs burned away to the knee as Kaine bathed it in black fire.

Ranma brought his shield to bear on his foe while he realized that his regeneration was slowed where that last attack hit. Kaine's corruption was interfering somehow.

He began to hack and slash at his enemy, closing in his defenses. He was taking smaller hits now, but they were crippling in their aggregation.

Kaine decided to use what was left of his hostages-power source as a shield to get a killing blow into his foe. Four crystals became exposed on the hilt of his black sword. He was pleased to see his enemy hesitate. He should have done this before now.

Kaine raised his weapon to slash the now scrabbling Ranma when a bright explosion rained a powder over both combatants.

Ranma rolled away and took a wary stance that looked to be 'waiting'. Kaine snarled and began to move on Ranma when the power coming from his 'gems' began to decline. Looking at them, their surfaces had dulled to an opaque silver finish. He saw Ranma's form undergoing the same evolution, except the powder vanished after covering him, absorbed.

When he was cut off from the gems, a beam was fired from a ship leaving stealth. It was LinOhki playing her 'holeshot'. The beam hit the crystals and appeared to ricochet through the mountain and out the other side before vanishing in a bright flash.

His hostages were gone.

Ranma and LinOhki began to fly out, away from Kaine.

"Cowards! I can still take you!" He began to fly up when a beam hit him forming a sphere that cut a chunk out of the landscape below where he had been. The ball imploded to a bright point and winked out.

RyoOhki mentally blew imaginary smoke from an imaginary gun, in her mind. "Case closed?" Asked Mihoshi.

The cabbit replied, "Oh, yeah. Kaine's in a black hole so small and tight that an electron would look like a gas giant to a BB. Here" A pedestal rose from the floor of the bridge with a crystal in the center. "The crystal is a holding matrix that is self powered by the black hole, all set to last for eternity. You and Kiyone can turn him in, Ranma said so." Ryoko sat back and hoped that her Tenchi and Ayeka were well.

Ranma rejoined himself and resumed his ship form, now only slightly larger than RyoOhki. "Okay! Everyone to RyoOhki." His passengers found themselves on the cabbit's bridge followed by Ranma in his cabbit form. "Washu? Do you think that you can get some more Masu? Kaine really took it out of me."

"Ranma!" He was engulfed by his mother's arms and squeezed to her chest. "My baby! Are you all right?"

Noboyuki watched the reunion comforted that his own would come.

The cabbit in her arms had gone crosseyed from the maternal glomp applied to his small form. 'Good thing I don't 'need' to breathe anymore.' "Mom. I love you, but could you ease up on the embrace?" His comfort level immediately rose.

"I'm sorry, my child. It's just that this has been just like one of those gaijin space operas and its so overwhelming."

At that moment a small woman, a brown cabbit and two short catgirls appeared on the bridge. KhoLun said, "My, I can't remember having so much fun in all my three hundred 'odd' years." Shampoo and Mousse glomped Ranma in Nodoka's arms, causing her to sit down with a thump on a couch that had appeared behind her. Ranma's gem glowed slightly and his and RyoOhki's holo images made an appearance on a short dais.

"I know you were able to save Sasami, Ayeka, Katsuhito, and Tenchi, but where are they?" asked Washu.

Ranma 'spoke', "Well that was Lin-chan's doing. He wanted a way to be certain that no one could trap one of us again," KhoLun and Washu simultaneously looked downcast, "aaand we have an emergency escape portal and recovery base on the moon that is being tied to all cabbits. Also included are cabbit passengers. It's the ultimate life raft. Lin-chan treated the crystals to make them part of 'us' and just activated the life raft portal. By the time we get home they should be ready to awaken. Washu-chan, why don't you use our telemetry to check on them."

"Yes! They are all okay, just a bit drained." She said from her holoconsole.

Funaho's face was on the monitor now. RyoOhki had provided a feed to the royal war room. "It seems that Jurai is forever indebted to your cabbits 'Lady' Washu."

"That's Washu-CHAN!"

The first empress smiled, "Very well, Washu-chan, the data packet we received tells me that we have a wedding to perform and you and the mother of the groom are invited to visit our shrine for the ceremony as soon as you restore the groom."

"Funaho-chan if you can have a ship swing by earth's moon to pick up your children and great grandson we can all be present." Washu loved it when everyone was happy, it made them less on their guard when the urge to experiment came upon her.

"Thank you, I am eager to see all our family together. We'll see each other again at the palace."

16JAN2006

Hey. Just reread this and realized that it needs work. Good C&C will help the revision to come. Thanks in advance.


	11. End of the Matter

Disclaim me do rey mi fa so la ti do. I don't own Ranma or Tenchi or any thing else that may be hinted at in here. So much fanfiction has been written that is guaranteed that anything I write is probably plagiarism of some sort.

Brief A/N:

Frodo and Mary Sue live!…in the Poconos.

I will likely never put together a single story longer than about 40k words. I 'may' get better over time, but the brevity will still be there and stories may seem a little rushed. I could revisit some earlier chapters to revise-add to, but don't count on it. I ain't that dependable. Sorry.

**A Horse and His Cabbit**

End of the Matter

RanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanmaRanma

Akemi had been pushing the dirty snowball for six weeks and her journey from the cometary halo was almost done. The fifty kilometer thick comet was almost perfectly matched to Venus' orbit and would settle into the basin of RyoOhki's Sea with the minimum of violence. Venus was still a pretty violent place but the atmosphere had cleaned up nicely as the sulfuric acid was dissolved and diluted by the tremendous influx of water. The seeding had only been going on for two years, but the hardy algae had begun the process of preparing the planet for open habitation. In two years the ocean would cover seven eighths of the planet and the thick ozone layer would be complete. Setting the giant 'ice cubes down gently had so far brought the planet's temperature to a balmy twenty-four degrees Celsius at the equator with lower temperatures in sight. Air pressure at sea level was only one and a half of Earth normal, with oxygen at twenty four percent.

Inside Akemi's environmental dome, she was preparing for bed.

"Gramma 'Doka, can you tell me again about how mom and papa saved Aunty Tsunami's family and got married in a tree?" The red haired woman smiled at her grandchild and thought back to the day that Akemi was born and about how it was the day she, herself Nodoka Tau Saotome was born.

"Of course I will, Akemi-chan. It was the time that your uncle LinOhki decided that his family would never be anyone's property again. He built Refuge and then went in search of your father…"

After tucking Akemi's avatar module to bed, Nodoka sat back and remembered the days following the battle of a few years ago.

A week had passed.

Washu and Nodoka had spent the time reacquainting themselves with their children.

"Mom! We want to wait a reasonable length of time for our kids to be born…and I think that twenty or so would be more than even you could handle!"

"I think that I can help with that." Washu interjected, "I believe that I have worked out the key to the spring of drowned twin. It is one of the simplest manipulations, merely cloning the adult form. I just tinker a bit and this device placed in a cold water source keeps the split going until there is one Nodoka for every child. Restoration will be simple with a controller for the original that will rejoin two to all clones, including memories."

"That sounds wonderful. I could have the experience of raising every baby at once and not miss anything!" Ranma sweatdropped and looked at Washu with suspicion. Washu responded with a wounded pout on her young looking face.

"Still, if Ryo Ohki is going to give birth mammal style to allow the human aspect to dominate, we both agreed that twins every nine months is more than enough." Ryo-chan nodded her head vigorously at Ranma's statement.

"Your children will have an advantage of a human growth cycle with full cabbit abilities being quickly on line. The modifications that I made in your genetics allows you to slowly restore your Masu component and will be passed to your already conceived children, as long as you give birth in the manner of mammals. As for genetic diversity, if your children intermarry with normal humans for a couple generations your society could become self supporting in the gene pool."

Ranma remembered his long discussion with Tsunami, talking about her sister Washu. "So, Washu-chan, are you going to ascend again, now that you will have a people and followers again? I understand that you were one hell of a good goddess and it wasn't your fault, losing them. We need to talk to Tokimi about that, too."

"If you don't mind my asking, what were you the goddess of?" Asked Nodoka in an awed voice."

Washu responded in a depressed tone. "Don't start worshipping me, Nodoka. My domain was knowledge, for whatever good it did my people. They were artisans, creating things of great beauty that had surpassing utility. Their dedication to creation was their…no…my greatest weakness. Creation was loved and destructive constructs were abhorred, so they were totally unprepared for the antilife that attacked our universe. Most chose to die with their childlike A.I.s rather than run and feel them die through their links."

"The ark that carried the children too young to have linked with an artificial life form was caught by the antilife as we fled the dying universe. I was damaged, as was Tokimi, and both of us lost our people. Our youngest sister, Tsunami saved us and enough of her own people to make a new start. Here." Washu sobbed.

Ranma glanced at Ryo Ohki and then meaningfully at Washu. The two went to the once and future goddess and enveloped her in a gentle hug. "Washu." Ranma began, "We are family now. The Ohkis will not let you suffer like that again and we will do our best to live up to our obligations to you and our universe. We shall not be helpless if it happens again."

* * *

Ranma and Ryo Ohki were married on board Tsunami's ship. Their first twins were born a year later. Nodoka Alpha and Beta took on the task of raising them to prove that, at least, she would not repeat past mistakes. Ranma and Ryo Ohki were never long away from the children, but were working on the Venus terraform project when they were. Lin Ohki had, strangely enough fallen for both Shampoo and Mousse. Their wedding ceremony had been performed in Washu's biodome that was the kernel of the future Venusian capital. That three way union produced almost as many offspring as Ranma and Ryo Ohki.

* * *

Nodoka Tau woke Akemi to keep her company through the final stages of settling the comet down and the beginning of the child's month long term as the capital city's biodome expansion. The young cabbit girl gave a last bump to the 'snowball' and the two watched it fall into the crater sea. The explosion topped the atmosphere and lightnings arced every where in the darkness of the planet's night side. A hologram appeared on her deck, it was her older brother, Hibari. "Way to go sis. Now come and take my place, my brain is getting a cramp holding the atmosphere in place."

"Hibari-chan, you know very well we don't feel stress doing biodome duty. You just want to go outsystem to do some exploring."

"Well, yeah. Gramma Delta and I are taking some of Gramma Washu's new sensors to the universal envelope and Auntie Tsunami is on her way there."

Nodoka Delta's voice sounded from Hibari's vicinity, "Now don't make it sound like you're going by yourself. Your mother and father are going, as well, to firm up some trade treaties in the region. And, they'll be carrying their share of the load. I have to go join with Gamma while I can before we leave. Love you Akemi."

"Love you Gramma Gamma." Akemi said as Nodoka Gamma left to share 'data'.

Nodoka Tau watched Akemi disappear. The next step would take all of the young ship girl's attention. Underneath, an inverted bowl sprouted and continued to grow. The dome expanded to form a perfect hemisphere fifty point one one five kilometers, inside diameter. She was exactly one hundred fifty five meters larger than Hibari. "Brother. Here I come. Three minutes to seal, purge and equilibrium. Then you're free to go."

As Akemi prepared to be Venus Prime's shield against a still unstable world, Hibari shrank to a tiny figure that flew off to pick up his recloned grandmother and join his parents. In the meantime, heavy machinery began the process of turning the strip of barren landscape at the dome's edge into fertile, no, fecund soil.

* * *

Fifty thousand years had passed and plans long in the making were finally coming to fruition.

Ranma smiled at his uber cute wife of fifty millennia, give or take. She was stretching out on the bed, taking her time waking. Looking around, Ranma got up and stood on the five millimeter thick disk that supported the bed. The neutronium disk provided gravity and the two cabbit lovers observed space with no shielding between them and the sea of stars on one side balanced by the blackness on the other side of the universal wave front.

"They're here love." Said Ranma, as millions upon millions of Ohkis manifested at the envelope. They were spread in formation, ready for the defense of life. Washu appeared on the disk beside her two favorite avatars.

"Your children are ready to mask this side of the universe with a thin shield universe to contain the Skaganuk Abyss. The bait is ready. I want to see the enemy gone forever."

Ryo Ohki replied, "I am as eager as you, mother. I just wish that my child didn't have to sacrifice so much of himself for us."

"Its okay dear, a thousand years from now, Hanabi will have recovered and then some." Ranma said, reassuringly. "Let's do it."

Between them and the universe, a whole new universe came into being and on the skin of the new universe was a vast, black, horse shaped silhouette. The Skaganuk Abyss that was their child and ultimate weapon. The horse shadow seemed to open its mouth and began to broadcast outward, a signal that the antilife could not resist. Ranma had listened to the signal that Washu had designed for five seconds…and had been sick for a week. It overwhelmed the senses with what seemed to be all of creation. Children crying at birth, children and old people dying, birth and death, death, death—all events happening simultaneously but none repeating another. Ten seconds would have driven even Ranma to madness. Tsunami, Ryoko, Tenchi and a grizzled Yosho (the years weighing heavily on him at last) appeared to join their friends and family for the end of the terror.

* * *

Ranma's long range senses spotted it first. It was a tendril of blackness that matched that of the abyss, coming across the void between the universes. The primary difference was a bloated malevolence that radiated out from it, blotting out hope where Hanabi just left a sense of the peace of the void without radiating anything, normally.

A very thin tendril, only a few microns across touched Ranma and Ryo Ohki's child. Instantaneously, the malevolence became a paralyzing fear. The tendril became a rope passing into the Skaganuk Abyss, the rope became a stream, the stream became a river, the river, an ocean, growing at an impossible rate. The antilife fought, tendrils whipping out, but then pulled in again. Finally, a long scream could be sensed as the thing was sucked in. Minutes…or millennia later, the last of the ancient enemy of universes was sucked into the abyss.

A tiny point of light broke off from the Skaganuk Abyss and was carefully retrieved by Ranma. Shortly, the horse shape began to dissolve, adding to the mass of dark universal matter. The enemy had been eaten, the Abyss dispelled.

Ranma presented Hanabi to his wife. He had become a child again, with a mark on his forehead in the shape of a rearing horse silhouette that seemed to suck in all light. "Mommy, I did it. I did good, didn't I."

"Yes you did Ha-chan. I love you."

Ranma looked up at the three goddesses and said, "I guess that now we have a future to build. Let's go home."

End


End file.
